One such wishlist for the player-cum-administrator is to find good drag-flick exponents. He also felt there is over-reliance on two-three players and for that to reduce, more players from the grassroots should be nurtured. During a video interview with The New Indian Express before the ACT final, Tirkey opened up and talked about ways to improve Indian hockey and the Hockey India league.
Excerpts
On men and women's teams
For quite a few years now, men’s and women’s hockey teams are doing well. Both teams are among the top-ranked teams in the World. And both teams elevated their performance in the Tokyo Olympics. With the men’s team bringing back the bronze medal and the women's team finishing fourth, the fans have renewed hope for this team. Inspired by that, we hope to perform better in the upcoming tournaments. We couldn’t match the Olympics' performance in the World Cup. We were hoping to do better given the strong potential of this team. We have seen that team is dependent on captain Harmanpreet Singh and goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who has been phenomenal over the years. We are trying to build a better future for hockey in India. We are trying to provide the teams with everything they need in modern hockey, concentrating on fitness and specific training programme.
On grooming drag-flickers
I have been saying this for a long time, the team that has the best drag-flicker is the best team in the world. If we talk about Belgium, they have the best flicker. If we are talking about India, our two drag-flickers, Harmanpreet Singh and Rupinder Pal Singh, have scored 8-10 goals amongst themselves. That is the one area where we can win more matches. That’s why we want a specific training programme to develop these kinds of players like drag flickers and goalkeepers. Rupinder Pal Singh announced his retirement after the Olympics, and we are taking his help for men’s and women’s teams."
On Asian Games and the Olympics
In 2018, we missed out on the direct Olympics qualification because of our loss in the semifinals of the Asian Games. I know we are doing better, but we have to perform on those days. in 2018 we lost to Malaysia in the semifinals. It's a game and we have to perform on that particular day. We are hoping to maintain the standard of performance of this team. We are also hoping to get the direct qualification. And I have full faith that these teams will do better.
On reviving hockey league
When the new body got elected we had two main motives. One is the revival of the hockey league and development of grassroots hockey. Hockey India has already done an agreement with Big Bang Media. With the HL, our young players will get the exposure they need. It’s a great platform where the best foreign players come in and for one month there’s a great hockey spectacle. Playing alongside great players from all over the world builds the confidence of our young players. We are waiting to get the window from FIH. Once we get that, we will start our final preparation. For now, we have kept it home and away format for Hockey India. We have decided that we will go ahead with eight men’s teams. The most exciting news is that we want to have four women’s teams as well. It will be a great platform for women as well.
Focus on grassroots
We have a gap with our sub-junior, junior and senior teams. We want to make a national team for the 17-19 age group because it’s lacking representation right now. We want to give them importance and respect to these teams and room to grow. They will come in the systematic training programme when they are ready, later they can become part of the core group and we can continue the system from there. They will get early exposure. The competition at the sub-junior and junior level needs to be more so we are hoping to start the zonal tournament for them.
Need for more coaches
We have noticed that there is a lack of professional coaches in India. We are hoping to have more Olympians in coaching. Sardar Singh, one of the greatest players, will now coach the sun-junior players. So will Rani Rampal. We want former players to play a role in developing youngsters.
Asians Champions Trophy
There was a time when Tamil Nadu was synonymous with hockey. I have many memories of playing in Chennai. There was no hockey in Chennai since 200. I want to thank Tamli Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, (additional secretary) Atulya Misra and SDAT member secretary Meghanath Reddy for their hard work. The ACT experience has been brilliant.
Leaving behind a legacy
We want to give importance to young players along with the national training programme for future generations. The special training programme for the national hockey team, and the continuation of Hockey India League. We want to work on that and hope to achieve that.
