JOIN USDraw against Poland remains sad memory for us: Dilip Tirkey
In modern hockey, the Sydney 2000 Olympics was the best chance that India had of winning a medal. In fact, it would perhaps not be exaggeration to say that the eight-time gold medallists could have added a ninth gold medal to their tally.
The last time India won the gold medal was in the Moscow Olympics in 1980, an edition that saw western countries boycott the Games.
After their successes in the good old days, India had won in 1964 in Tokyo apart from Moscow. India had fielded a star-studded team that included mercurial forward Dhanraj Pillay, Mukesh Kumar, Dilip Tirkey, Gagan Ajit Singh, Baljit Singh Dhillon, Baljit Singh Saini to name a few.
Former India captain and defender Tirkey recalls some interesting stories from the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games.
Tirkey, who represented India in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics, spoke about his excitement of playing in his first Olympics at the Atlanta Games in 1996: "Every athlete has a dream of becoming an Olympian and I got a chance of playing in the Olympics for the first time in 1996. We had some big players in our team at that time such as our captain Pargat Singh Powar. I was very excited to play in the Olympics."
When asked about memories from the 2000 Olympic Games at Sydney, Tirkey said: "We performed very well in the league stages of the 2000 Olympics. We played well against Argentina, Australia, and Spain and we needed to defeat Poland to qualify for the semifinal, but couldn't do it. The match against Poland got so difficult for us and it ended in a 1-1 draw in the end. We were leading 1-0 after I scored in the 53rd minute but Poland managed to score in the last few moments of the match.
“If we had beaten Poland, then we could have qualified for semifinal and after that anything could have happened. So, that draw against Poland has remained as a sad memory for us,” Tirkey added.
The former India defender further spoke about his experience of just being at the Olympic Games: "There were many exciting moments for us at the 1996 Olympics. Tennis star Leander Paes also made history in the Olympics by winning a bronze medal. It was India's first Olympic in an individual event in a long time. We got to see the US President Bill Clinton as well as he visited the Olympic Village. I went to watch the athletics and football events at the Olympics as well," he said.
When asked about his expectations from the current Indian men's hockey team, Tirkey said: "I have great expectations from the current men’s team. I think there is a lot of quality in the side and they have a good chance of finishing on the podium in Tokyo. I would like to wish the team all the very best and I hope that they do well in the Olympics this year."