Hockey is known as one of the most popular games of all time. Across the globe, hockey is one of the most followed games. Many countries participate in the Olympics and other hockey tournaments to bring prestige to their country. It is believed that hockey is developed from the Irish game Hurling, its Scottish version is the most popular. Since its development hockey is the most played game in the world. So, here’s a list of all-time hockey players in the world.
Dhyan Chand
The Indian field hockey player is one of the greatest hockey players of all time. His fans have. His fans regard him as one of the best athletes of Olympic history. He scored 1000+ goals throughout his career between 1926 to 1948. He also won 3 Olympic gold medals from 1928 to 1936 consecutively. Even a German Newspaper of that time covered him with headlines.
Ric Charlesworth
The Former field hockey player from Australia and coach has received one of the prestigious Australian awards- Advance Australia Award. He won the award in 1984 for his contribution in the field. He represented in 5 Olympics, and was a main member of the Australian team. Ric led his team to the world hockey cup victory in London in 1986. He was also included in the Australian hall of fame and honoured with an Australian sports medal.
Paul Litjens
One of the notable field hockey players of all time with 268 goals. Paul was top scorer in the 1976 Olympics and the Champions trophy in 1981. He started with hockey clubs, later joined the national team. He played 177 matches throughout his career.
Hassan Sardar
One of the best players from Pakistan, he is considered as one of the top 10 hockey players of all time. He led his team to Victory in the Summer Olympics in 1984 in Los Angeles as Captain. He also won a gold medal for Pakistan and participated in the first hockey World Cup. Hassan was the best centre forward and won the first world cup he played in. He is currently serving as head coach of the Pakistan field hockey team.
Sohail Abbas
Sohail Abbas is one of the greatest field hockey players from Pakistan. he is known for the fastest 100 and 200 goals barrier in the history of international hockey. he was known as the greatest flicker due to his 65% drag-flick conversion rate. he is the only one to score 21 hat tricks and a double hat-trick. He is the top scorer in Pakistan.
Teun De Nooijer
The former Dutch field hockey player is known as the greatest hockey player of all time. He played for HC Bloemendaal, Dutch team and Uttar Pradesh wizards in the Hockey India league. He won gold medals in the 200 Sydney Olympics and 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Teun also led his team to the 2012 London Olympic and 2004 Athens Olympic finals. As a matter of fact, he has played 400 matches throughout his career.
Jamie Dwyer
The pioneer member of the Australian team, the Australian field hockey player Jamie Dwyer is one of the greatest field hockey players to date. he started playing in 2001 and scored more than 150 goals since then in 250+ matches. He won Gold medals in the Commonwealth games in 2006 and 2010. He won bronze in the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. Dwyer is the winner of gold medal at Men’s Hockey World cup in 2010 and silver in Men’s field hockey World Cup 2002. He was named as IHF player of the year in 2004 & 2007.
Ties Kruize
He was known as the best penalty corner taker and the best penalty corner taker in the field hockey history. The former Dutch field hockey player won the Gold medal in 1973 in Amstelveen Hockey World Cup. He later won a Silver medal in the Buenos Aires Hockey World Cup in 1978. He played with the National Dutch team in the EuroHockey Nations Championship and won the gold medal in Amsterdam in 1983, and a bronze medal in Madrid, in 1974.
Dhanraj Pillay
The former Indian Field hockey player who participated in 4 Olympics between 1992 to 2004, 4 World Cups between 1990 to 2002. He also participated in 4 Champions Trophies between 1995 to 2003, and 4Asian Games between 1990 to 2002. Dhanraj was the captain of the Indian team and won gold medals in Asian Games 1998 and Asia Cup 2003. He scored more than 170 goals throughout his career in 339 international matches. He was the highest goal scorer in the Bangkok Asian Games.
Fergus Kavanagh
Former Australian player, Fergus is one of the greatest hockey players of all time. He was a regular member of the national Australian team. He won the Hockey World Cup 2010 and the Hague World Cup 2014. Additionally, Fergus was the best defender in field hockey and scored 14 goals in 191 appearances. His one of the great achievements was Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014 win.