Dhanraj Pillay is a huge name to reckon with in Indian sports. He was the highest goal scorer in the Bangkok Asian Games. He is a sportsperson who made it big in the world solely on the basis of his talent and hard work. Dhanraj came from a very modest background and sheer talent and charismatic skills rose to become pushed him to become one of the most prominent Hockey players of the nation.He was born in Khadki, a small town near Pune, Maharashtra to very poor parents. He father used to work at the Ordinance factory and a young Pillay began playing hockey along with his friends with a broken stick and ragged balls. It was just a small game for the other young boys then. Who was to know one day a little boy among them would enthrall the world weaving magic with his hockey stick. Even at that time, Dhanraj loved the game a lot and tried his best to excel in the games even though he didn’t come from a very sound financial background. However, encouraged by his mother, he started taking the game seriously.
He has represented the national team in a number of International tournaments such as Beijing Asian Games 1990, Barcelona Olympic Games 1992, World Cup Hockey tournament 1994, etc. till the year 2004.He is the only Hockey player who has participated in 4 Olympic Games (held in the years 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004), 4 World Cup Tournaments (held in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002, 4 Champions Trophy Tournaments (held in 1995, 1996, 2002 and 2003), and 4 Asian Games (held in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002). He also served as the Captain of the Indian Hockey team for some time, and led the team to victory in Asian Games 1998 and Asia Cup Hockey 2003.
This amazing hockey player has also won the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and the Padmna Shree, among many other prestigious awards.
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