The Hindu : Tirkey optimistic of good show

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 04, 2004

Sport

Sport - Hockey

Tirkey optimistic of good show

By V. V. Subrahmanyam

HYDERABAD, FEB. 3. The Indian hockey captain, Dilip Tirkey, is optimistic of finding the right balance ahead of the crucial 2004 Athens Olympics qualifiers to be held in Madrid next month. Speaking after a strenuous training session at the Gachibowli hockey complex here, the 27-year-old captain said the team was capable of sustaining the recent good run.

"The three `Tests' against Holland should give us a fair hint of how well the team can settle down before the big challenge. No doubt, we will miss Dhanraj Pillay's experience and class but we have to face the reality and hope to win with the available strength," Tirkey said. "The chief coach Rajinder Singh and assistant coach Baldev Singh have been repeatedly stressing that the players should always look up and never feel inferior to anyone in this competitive world," he said.

"Essentially, we will try to improve in re-tackling and also stress on the importance of the forwardline falling back when the situation merited. This is inevitable especially after the way we took the lead in most of the matches in Azlan Shah Trophy and still lost the matches," he said.

Tirkey, from Sundergarh in Orissa, recently conferred the Padma Shri is ready for the big task ahead. "It is an honour to lead the country and I know the expectations are really high this time. Yes, I am enjoying my role as the defender in the company of the reliable Kanwalpreet Singh and with custodian Devesh Chauhan being outstanding," he said.

"The job of a defender demands lot of hard work and guts. He must be ready to take the body blows from the strongly built Europeans," he said. "Of late, most matches were either won or lost in the last 15 minutes. This is another big responsibility thrust on the defence," he pointed out.

On the other hand, newly-appointed Holland coach and former Australian great Terry Walsh says it is time for the Dutch to re-focus the game on better performances. "I look at this way. I think it is only a question of minor operations to the already talented Dutch side. Though there are not many weak spots, we will try our best to put up an improved performance," he said.

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