Dilip Tirkey

Dilip Tirkey (born 25 November 1977), is a former captain of the Indian field hockey team, politician and sports administrator.

Dilip Tirkey was born in a Kurukh (Oraon) tribal family in Saunamara village of Sundargarh, Orissa on 25 November 1977.

His parents are Regina Tirkey and Vincent Tirkey, a former CRPF hockey player.

His twin younger brothers Anoop Tirkey and Ajit Tirkey plays for Indian Railways.

He is married to Meera Tirkey.

He made his debut in 1995 against England.

He was appointed as the Deputy Manager at Air India (Bhubaneswar) in 1996.

His family follows Roman Catholicism.

He represented India in 1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympics and had a total of 412 international caps.

He is the only tribal hockey player to represent India in three Olympics.

He was also a part of the team that won the gold at the Bangkok Asian Games in 1998 and won the 2003 Asia Cup held in Malaysia.

and also played the 1998 World Cup at Netherlands and 2002 World Cup at Malaysia.

In 2002, Dilip Tirkey was handed over the captaincy of the team as he became the first tribal to captain the Indian hockey team in the post-independence era.

He captained the team that won silver at the 2002 Asian Games and gold in the 2003 Afro-Asian Games.

Under his captaincy, India clinched gold medal at the 2003 Afro-Asian Games by defeating arch-rivals Pakistan in the Final.

The First-ever Tribal to receive Padma Shri Award, Dilip Tirkey is a former Member of Parliament of India in Rajya Sabha, former Chairman of Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC), Chairman of Odisha Hockey Promotion Council & Hockey Odisha's ad-hoc committee.

In September 2022, he became President of Hockey India.

He was awarded Padma Shree in 2004.

Currently he is the president of Hockey India.

He was Captain of Indian Hockey Team at 2004 Athens Olympics.

Having played 412 international matches for India, Dilip Tirkey has represented India in 3 Olympic Games & was Captain of the Indian Hockey Team at the 2004 Summer Olympics at Athens.

He Captained Indian Hockey Team at the 2006 Men's Hockey World Cup in Germany.

On 2 May 2010, he announced his retirement from the international arena.

While Dilip Tirkey wore the blue jersey of the Indian national hockey team, his swift footwork and wizardly interception of the ball put him in the ranks of the world's best defenders.

He is the first player in the world to have played 400 international matches.

At Sundergarh Dilip Tirkey is revered as a hero.

For youngsters who played the sport, he is the embodiment of success.

His former playing position was of full back.

He was best known for his penalty corner hit.

Dilip was one of the most difficult defenders (because of his tight marking skill near goal post) to beat in the world and was known as "The Wall of Indian Hockey" He was an ex-captain of Indian hockey team.

The first and only Hockey player from India to play more than 400 international matches Dilip Tirkey was the Former Captain of the Indian Hockey Team.

He declined to become a national selector on 16 July 2010, three days after he was offered the post by the Indian Hockey Federation.

In three Olympics he has participated his penalty corner hitting is considered as one of the best in the world.

On 22 March 2012, he was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha as one of the three Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidates to the Upper House of Indian Parliament.

Previously, Dilip Tirkey was working as chairman of Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC), now he is working as the chairman of Odisha Hockey Promotion Council.

In September 2022, he was elected unopposed to the position of the president of Hockey India.

He is the first ever international hockey player to become President of Hockey India Dilip Tirkey Sports Research Development Foundation short and abbreviated as DTSRD is an initiative of Padma Shri Dilip Tirkey.

DTSRD has its registered office in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Dibakar Parichha serves as the Secretary-General of DTSRD while Prime Abhilas is the managing director of DTSRD.

The Founder – President of DTSRD is Dilip Tirkey Career as administrator