The World's Hockey Champions 1936

By Olympic Gold Medallist M. N. Masood

Page 1	Page 2	Page 3		Page 4	Page 5	Page 6
Frankfurt and Heidelberg				We saw the old castle of the Palatinate princes which was destroyed by the French in the 17th century. The Palatinate princes made another castle for themselves in Ludwigshafen in the 18th century, and this castle still exists with all its magnificence. It is considered the biggest castle in Germany, and the largest example of Baroque architecture in the country. A full-size photo of the castle was presented to Dhyan Chand.
Page 7	Page 8	Page 9		Page 10	Page 11	Page 12

e arrived in Frankfurt on 17th August at 8:15 am, and met the representatives of the South West Hockey Association at the station. A two minutes walk brought us to Hotel Excelsior, the best hotel of the town, where we stayed.

At 11:30 am, we were taken in a bus to see the A. G. Co., manufacturers of all sorts of dyes. The company is situated in a nine-storied house, with a large dining hall for her 1600 employees and a beautiful library.

It is the biggest company of its kind in Germany, and claims to be the biggest in Europe. It is an amalgamation of eight leading dyeing companies of Germany, and in all employs 120,000 men and women.

We were told by one of the Directors, who had lived in India for quite a long period, and could converse with us in Urdu, that 77% of India's dyeing trade is carried on with this company, which provides India with chemicals and colours for dyeing.

The official reception by the Mayor was at 4:30 pm in the Town Hall, but we arrived there twenty minutes late. The Town Hall is an ancient building, four hundred and odd years old, and its spacious, richly painted hall had seen many a king of Germany crowned there as Kaisers.

The Mayor welcomed us to the historical town of Frankfurt, observing that one of the greatest of German poets, Goethe, who was born and lived there, evinced great interest in the ancient culture of India, and brought nearer her people to the hearts of the Germans, and particularly to the people of Frankfurt, by his poetry.

Mr. Jagannath thanked the Mayor and remarked that we were proud to be honoured today under the same roof where many an emperor of Germany had been crowned.

Each member of the team was presented by the Mayor with a porcelain wine glass with the coat-of-arms of the town, which is famous also for its wine. As it was getting late for the match, we could not see the house in which Goethe had lived, much to our regret, and could only purchase its photo cards by way of consolation.

India 5 – South West Hockey Association 2

A big crowd greeted us in the hockey stadium where we played the first match of the tour, winning it 5-2. A bumpy, heavy ground and the comparative ease with which India played were perhaps responsible for a low score against a provincial side of Germany.

Dhyan Chand scored three goals and Ahmad Sher Khan scored two. Dara was conspicuous for his over-dribbling, and was emulating Roop Singh in this.

Frankfurt scored the first goal of the match and thus took the lead through the bad play of Mitchie, who had come out to kick the ball, misjudged it completely, and gave an opening to the local forward.

Tapsell stopped a hit and then let it slip through his legs, thus giving the second goal to Frankfort, after the first had been equalised by an individual effort of Dhyan.

It is difficult to state whether the Frankfort hockey enthusiasts were gratified with India's performance on this day. They found an easy-going team making mistakes like common players, and never touching the standard which placed her first in the international competition only two days previously.

The Indian team was as follows: Mitchie; Tapsell and Mohammad Hussain; Nimal, Masood and Gallibardy; Shahabuddin, Dara, Dhyan Chand, Roop Singh and Jaffar.

We left Frankfurt the next morning by the 9:46 train for Mannheim. Frankfurt appeared rather drab and uninteresting after the gay Berlin of the XIth Olympiad. Dara left us here for India.

India 3 – Mannheim 2

We arrived in Mannheim at 11:00 am on 18th August. The Palast-Hotel was our temporary residence in Mannheim. It is situated opposite the Wasserturm (water-tower), which is the symbol of the town.

A beautiful fountain plays lively in the centre of the ground of water tower, throwing up the liquid in the air 40 feet high. In the evenings, colourful lights are focussed on this playful fountain, bathing its shiny waters and making it still more lovely.

We spent the whole day in the hotel and left it in the evening for the hockey stadium, where India played her second match of the tour and won 3-2, the closest result so far.

The ground was better than at Frankfurt, and the opponents were by no means a strong side. And still India won by the narrowest margin.

Each player was trying to play his game and enjoying himself in dribbling and dodging. This example was set by the two Jhansi brothers, who had their share of it more than the others.

Even Mr. Jagannath, who happened to referee the game this day, did not escape criticism for bad umpiring from the master dribblers, Dhyan and Roop, during the game.

The Mannheim team was playing good hockey, and India should think herself lucky that the game ended in a win in her favour. On the run of the play, the local boys deserved a draw at least.

Dhyan scored the first goal after dribbling three players, Emmett scored the second goal with a powerful shot, and Roop scored the last goal off a short corner.

The Indian team was as follows: Mitchie; Phillips and Mohammad Hussain; Ahsan, Cullen and Gurcharan Singh; Ahmad Sher, Emmett, Dhyan Chand, Roop Singh and Peter Fernandes.

Heidelberg

In the morning of 19th August, we were motored to Heidelberg, half an hour bus journey from Mannheim. Heidelberg is a picturesque little town, set amidst green hills, with narrow streets and the placid Neckar flowing in between.

There is an English song about it beginning with "I lost my heart in Heidelberg".

We saw the old castle of the Palatinate princes which was destroyed by the French in the 17th century, and since then it has been kept in ruins to perpetuate the memory of the destruction in the minds of the Germans.

The Palatinate princes made another castle for themselves in Ludwigshafen in the 18th century, and this castle still exists with all its magnificence. It is considered the biggest castle in Germany, and the largest example of Baroque architecture in the country. A full-size photograph of the castle was presented to Dhyan by the president of the local Hockey Association before the match of the previous day.

On our way back to Mannheim, we saw, from outside only, the old and new buildings of the famous Heildelberg University. A fast drive in and around Mannheim gave us a slight idea of the town itself. It is situated at the junction of the Rhine and the Neckar, and is the industrial and commercial centre of the south-west of Germany. One of the most striking features of the town is its layout in chessboard fashion.

After a hasty lunch, we left for our next destination, Munich, at 1:32 pm on 19th August.

In front of the Hotel Excelsior, Frankfurt