Celebrating Indian Hockey. The final session on day 2 of the Tata Steel Trailblazers sports conclave organised by RevSportz witnessed a fascinating conversation. Moderated by Boria Majumdar, this session had some of the biggest names of the game.
PR Sreejesh, Harmanpreet Singh, Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey, secretary Bholanath Singh, India women’s coach Harendra Singh and Rahul Todi, the MD of Shrachi Group and owner of the Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers, were the speakers.
Sharing anecdotes and tales of success and failure, they made it a riveting session. Celebrating the revival of Indian hockey, two successive Olympic bronze medals and the road ahead — there were lots of things on offer.
Tirkey, the legendary Indian defender, said his regret was not winning an Olympic medal. “But as president of HI, I am trying to focus on the right areas. We can beat any team and what we are doing is good. Going ahead, we want to give the best of facilities to the junior and women’s teams. The women’s team’s triumph against the Netherlands in the FIH Pro League was a high point. We want to take that ahead.”
Sreejesh, the crowd favourite and current coach of the national junior team, said the foundation of the success in 2021 and 2024 was laid earlier. “That was when we lost in London and Rio de Janeiro. Lessons learnt from those setbacks prepared us for the future. Those defeats pushed us to go forward. Lessons learnt from those were invaluable.”
Bholanath Singh said the dream is to win the World Cup. “It’s not my idea. It’s a collective vision. We want to master the big events — the Olympics, World Cup and Asian Games. We will provide the players all the facilities. I am a wrestler and wrestling coach myself. I understand what the players, coaches and teams need. We will make the Hockey India League the best league in the world.”
Harmanpreet, the captain of the national team and champion drag-flicker, said that bronze was just the beginning. “We believe that we can win the gold medal and that will always remain the ultimate goal. We have seen what we can achieve. Now, we must raise the bar. We have what it takes to be the best in the world. Until that happens, I am not satisfied.”
Coach Harendra said that HI had made things better for coaches by offering them good pay and providing the right working environment. “What I get from the HI is what foreign coaches get. There is no disparity on that front. And since I took charge of the women’s team, I have faced zero interference. The working atmosphere is great. Now, it’s up to us to deliver.”
Todi, whose team Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers won the Hockey India League, said as a team owner, his idea was to make things better for the players. “They are the real champions. We made the team and made sure we had good options. After that, it was the commitment of the team and players. Hopefully, the league will bring back players to hockey and improve the standard.”