Hockey India Elections: Dilip Tirkey becomes new HI President

Dilip Tirkey, a former captain of the Indian men's hockey team who competed in 412 international matches between 1995 and 2010, was chosen as the next head of Hockey India (HI) without any opposition.

After the opposition candidates Bhola Nath and Rakesh Katyal withdrew, Dilip Tirkey was elected as the new president of HI. As of right now, Tirkey is the Odisha Hockey Promotion Council's chair. Additionally, he has served in the Rajya Sabha, the Indian Parliament's upper house.

The first-ever player-president in the history of Hockey India, Dilip Tirkey says sports persons can contribute as administrators too. "I believe former players should come into sports administration because they know where to focus. Like Sourav Ganguly was in the CAB first and then went to BCCI and is performing brilliantly," Tirkey told PTI-Bhasha. "I am happy that Hockey India has also elected a former player like me as its president for the first time. Players go through many phases in their career and they get a better experience,"

On getting elected, Dilip took social media to express his gratitude to the Committee of Administrators which included S.Y. Quereshi, Anil Dave and former Olympian Zafar Iqbal for the smooth execution of the Hockey India elections.

Dilip Tirkey will occupy the president's post which was vacated by the resignation of Narender Batra in July. Bhola Nath Singh from Hockey Jharkhand will take the post of secretary General and Sekar J Manoharan will be the treasurer.

Bhola Nath said he decided to withdraw his nomination for the president's post to enable a great player like Tirkey to take up the reigns. "I withdrew after due consultation with Dilip Tirkey. He is a legend and we have decided to work jointly for the good of Indian hockey. Our aim is to see India win the Olympic gold again," Bhola Nath told PTI. "We will also work towards the development of the game at the grassroots level and make domestic hockey stronger."

The other non-contested members of Hockey India are Asima Ali (vice president) of Hockey Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka's SVS Subramanya Gupta (vice president), Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu's Sekar J Manoharan (treasurer), Hockey Rajasthan's Arti Singh (joint secretary) and Hockey Haryana's Sunil Malik (joint secretary). The five executive board members are Arun Kumar Sarswat (Hockey Rajasthan), Asrita Lakra (Hockey Jharkhand), Gurpreet Kaur (Delhi Hockey), V Sunil Kumar (Kerala Hockey) and Tapan Kumar Das (Assam Hockey).

With his election, Dilip Tirkey has his first big assignment in for the upcoming Hockey World Cup in January 2023 which is being conducted in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.

Dilip Tirkey had a glorious career representing India for more than 400 games in his 15-year-old career and winning gold at the 1998 Asian Games, 2003 Asia Cup and 2007 Asia Cup. Dilip received Arjuna Award in 2002 and Padma Shri in 2004 for his valuable contribution to the sport of hockey.

(With PTI Inputs)