‘Our Target is to Win Gold in LA28’: Hockey India President Dilip Tirkey’s Formula to Script

The Indian hockey team’s impressive feat in the Paris Olympics 2024 rekindled Indian fans’ love for Hockey as Harmanpreet Singh & Co. defeated Spain to clinch a second consecutive bronze medal – their first set of consecutive medals in 52 years, and they received a hero’s welcome upon their homecoming.

Had it been a gold, the emotions would have been manifold. But the hunger to clinch the yellow metal still persists in the team. With legendary goalkeeper PR Sreejesh bidding adieu to the turf with pride, the hunt for his able successor and most importantly, the planning to sing the Indian national anthem in Los Angeles 2028 has already begun.

In an exclusive conversation with News18, Hockey India President and former India captain Dilip Tirkey spoke about the value of back-to-back Olympic medals, the Indian hockey team’s future after Sreejesh’s retirement, the return of Hockey India League and the mission gold in LA2028.

Here are the excerpts:

A second consecutive bronze medal for Hockey in the Olympic Games. How big is it, especially in a country where people are more inclined over cricket?

Winning back-to-back Olympic Bronze is a huge thing for Indian hockey. The reason is that victory is everything in the Indian sports culture. And just look at the level of competition in world hockey. There are teams like Australia, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Great Britain etc… winning an Olympic bronze is a massive achievement for the team. It’s equivalent to a gold medal for me.

Secondly, we maintained that momentum [of winning a medal]. Each and every player has worked hard and made some terrific contributions. Especially, the flickers, goalkeepers… all of them put their best efforts in bringing a medal for the second time in a row.

Now that Sreejesh has bowed out, who will be the next to take his place?

Sreejesh not being there in the international circuit is a sad thing but he will be there with the junior team as a coach. As far as his successor is concerned, there are couple of upcoming goalkeepers –  Suraj [Karkera] & Krishan [Pathak]. In fact, there are talents in the junior team. So, we hope that the next generation gets to learn a lot from Sreejesh and perform well for the Indian hockey in future.

After two consecutive Olympic Bronze medals, will the team aim for the gold in Los Angeles? What would be the road map to win the yellow metal in America in 2028?

Definitely, that’s our target [winning a gold medal in LA28]. We have realized that we can compete against any team in the world. Also, we have got to know what areas we are strong in. We have good drag-flickers, and we have been well supported by our first men, Sreejesh was phenomenal and overall, our entire team was very fit. So, we will definitely work on these aspects going ahead.

Now that the Olympic Games are done, we will now focus on the 2026 Hockey World Cup, the Asian Games in the same year and then the Olympics in 2028.

The Hockey India League will be back after a 7-year gap. How the upcoming edition is going to be different from the previous ones?

There are going to be women’s teams for the first time. We will have 8 men’s teams and 6 women’s teams. Another most important aspect of the tournament will be the participation of players from the 15 best teams from across the world. The tournament will be played across two venues in Rourkela and Ranchi.

How can we convert the bronze medal to gold in the LA28?

In today’s world, fitness is everything in sports and that we achieved in hockey very well. We needed good coaches, we got that and he [Craig Fulton] proved his worth in a very short span of time. He got us a gold in Asian Games last year and now, with a bronze.

The next step is to assess which players won’t be able to make it to the LA28. Their replacements have to be kept ready. For that, we need to pick players from the junior team and give them ample exposure. We need to work with our flickers who can provide the best results in 2028. The focus will also be on nurturing the goalkeepers. Sreejesh has already set a benchmark and we need to provide optimum exposure to one who grabs that spot. So, that’s how we are planning to move ahead.