Former Indian hockey captain Dilip Tirkey who has represented the nation in three Olympics (1996 Atlanta), 2000 (Sydney) and 2004 (Athens) while appreciating the performance of Indian men's and hockey teams in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics said the way both the teams have played so far they have surprised all.
The Indian men's and women's hockey teams have created history by qualifying for the semis. While the men's team entered the last four stage after 49 years, women's team make it to the semis for the first time.
While expressing his happiness over the performance of both the teams Tirkey while talking with Lokmat Times said, “ All the hockey players were waiting for this victory for the country and for the first time it happens that both the teams have simultaneously qualified for the semis in any Olympic. Certainly, this is a big achievement, and the way the teams played they have surprised all. Particularly the men's team displayed outstanding performance against England”, he said.
About today's Indian women's victory against mighty Australia , Tirkey who had a total 412 international caps said , “The performance of women team was outstanding. They started aggressively and their group tackle was outstanding. We were missing such tactics earlier. Short corners are our weakness but this time they have overcome it”.
About the semi-finals Tirkey advised the Indian teams to relax themselves and recover physically and mentally. “ Both men and women semis will be tough not only for India but for opponents also. Argentina will be the tough opponent for women but I think they will have to stick to their strategy in the semis also”, he said.
While lauding the role of foreign coaches in the success of both the teams Tirkey said, “ No doubt they have played an important role in the teams success. Women team coach Sjored Marjne has been with the team for long years. The coaches very well handled the teams”.
Padha Shri and Arjuna awardee Tirkey who was elected to Rajya Sabha unopposed in 2012 lauded the Central as well as Odisha government for supporting sports. “ Odisha government led by Naveen Patnaik is supporting our national game. They are the main sponsor of hockey teams and for hockey promotion, they have already conducted World Cup . The government is building a new stadium for next world cup also”, he said.
Tirkey who had announced his reticent from the international hockey in 2010 signed off by saying the success of hockey teams has given the message to the youths that even we can qualify for the semis in Olympics provided they should have the confidence to do better.