Tirkey confident of hockey success at Asiad

Known as the ‘Wall of Indian hockey’ during his playing days, Dilip Tirkey became the president of Hockey India a year ago. 

Someone who understands every nuance of the sport, the former Indian captain has since then been instrumental in bringing about radical changes for the development of the sport in the country.

Holding the most important administrative position in the Indian hockey set-up has been challenging and exciting, says the former player with 412 international caps for India.  

In an exclusive chat with DH, the 54-year-old Tirkey shares his insights on India's chances at the Asian Games, hosting big events and his future plans. 

Excerpts...

What are your expectations of the Indian teams at the upcoming Asian Games?

Asian Games is a very important event for us because the winners will directly qualify for the Paris Olympics. I’m confident both the teams will do well. The women's team might face some stiff challenges, especially from the Chinese. But they are all well prepared and raring to go. 

How good are the teams looking ahead of the Asiad? 

Seniors such as Harmanpreet (Singh), (PR) Sreejesh, Manpreet (Singh), Mandeep (Singh) are in top form. Harmanpreet, especially, performed well and his short corner penalty conversions were really good at the Asian Champions Trophy. That gives us an added advantage. And the women won the FIH women’s Nations Cup beating some of the stronger European teams a few months ago. Both of them are looking confident.

Role of coaches Craig Fulton and Janneke Schopman...

They were prolific players themselves before diving into coaching. They have led many teams as assistant coaches to many great results. Their leadership and expertise have been beneficial for the Indians and I’m sure they are fully invested in helping each player be the best versions of themselves.   

Could you share your own experience of winning medals at the Asiad? 

Every sportsperson's dream is to win an Olympic, World Cup and Asian Games medal. In Bangkok 1998, we won a medal (gold) after a gap of 32 years. It was a huge achievement and a proud moment for us all. When we win medals in such events and come back to India, the players get a lot of recognition, adulation and positive response from the government and fans. That’s fulfilling as an athlete. 

After hosting the men’s Asian Champions Trophy in Chennai, the women’s ACT will be held in Ranchi in October. How are the preparations coming along? 

It will be the first time Ranchi will be hosting an international match/ event. The stadium is getting renovated. A new poligras turf has been laid here too. We hope the women’s ACT will also be a grand success just like the men’s event in Chennai. 

Could you elaborate on the idea of introducing a national camp with a professional set-up for Sub-juniors? 

A strong grassroot structure is very important to grow any sport. If we strengthen the grassroots, then the senior group in the future will automatically become stronger. Coach, physio, trainer, masseur.. When all of them are involved, children develop interest and their desire to achieve big things increases. To holistically develop future champions was the whole idea behind introducing such a programme.  

How do you want to take this programme forward?

We are forming a Sub-junior national team to take them on a European tour where they will play Netherlands and Belgium. We want to give them international exposure from an early age. The coaching staff in Rourkela is also focussing on special skill-based training such as drag flicking, goalkeeping. 

How were the 40 boys and girls selected? 

They were scouted during the Sub-junior and Junior national championships. In the future, we will select kids from the zonal championships as well for the grassroot programme. 

What are the other developmental programmes you have in store going forward? 

An international event returned to Chennai after nearly 16 years. Ranchi will soon have its first. So, our effort is to organise such big-ticket events wherever there was/ is a craze for hockey to popularise the sport. Along with that, we have requested state governments to take initiatives to lay turf and develop infrastructure in regions where hockey is played.

India won both the men’s and women’s Asian Hockey 5s tournament and qualified for the inaugural Hockey 5s World Cup. But the national championship in the format was discontinued after 2019..

Covid hit after the 2019 5-a-side nationals and HI calendar was disturbed. When we decide on a new calendar in the future, we will definitely revive the tournament again. 2023 is an Olympic year, we have several domestic events, so we will consider everything and decide on bringing it back.