Goal is to take international hockey to different states: Dilip Tirkey

Rajgir: After the women's Asian Champions Trophy in November 2024, the hockey stadium in Rajgir, Bihar is hosting men's Asia Cup which commenced on Friday.

Apart from these two big ticket events, the first leg of the FIH Pro League was held in Bhubaneswar in February and the junior men's World Cup is scheduled to be organised in Chennai in December. 

Speaking to DH prior to the biennial continental event, former player and Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey said that one of the top priorities of the federation was to bring as many international tournaments to the country to spread the sport at various hubs. 

The 47-year-old Olympian from Odisha, and India's highest capped (412 matches) player, shared his views about the new venue, the significance of Asia Cup and the footprint HI hopes it will leave behind.

Your expectations from the tournament? 

This is not only an important and significant event for the national team but also for Hockey India. One of the main goals of HI is to popularise the sport. For this to happen, we want to take international events to various venues in different states. So kids of today get inspired and we find future players from these regions which have huge potential.

Could you explain that a little more? 

Unless people watch live sport, how will the interest develop? There is a tradition for hockey in the neighbouring states of Odisha and Jharkhand where the game is played extensively especially in the country side and rural areas. However, it isn't the same in Bihar. This, hopefully, will change that with the government investing more and parents allowing their children to take up hockey. 

Are there other big events coming to India? 

Let's see, we can hopefully bring the junior or senior women's World Cups to India in the future as well. We want to regularly host international events in India. That's for sure. 

Decision to field the entire core team... 

Keeping in mind that we are the hosts and that the event is a World Cup qualifier, the selectors along with the coach have picked the best team after closely monitoring each of their performances during the friendlies against Australia. I'm sure, the team is well-prepared to put up a good show.