Disappointed Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey looks back at missed opportunities as India bow out of the World Cup

The Indian Men’s Hockey team dealt with a major shocking blow as they bowed out of the FIH Hockey World Cup after losing to New Zealand on penalties in the crossover match. Hockey India president and former Indian legend Dilip Tirkey highlights drop in Harmanpreet Singh’s goalscoring form a major reason for India’s downfall but also does not blame only Penalty Corner conversion as the only reason for their exit.

He shared how Harmanpreet was having a season to remember as he could not stop scoring in the Pro League matches and also against Australia in the Test series ahead of the World Cup. So he was very disappointed to see the Indian skipper struggling to find the net at the big stage. Harmanpreet Singh could only manage to score a single goal in this World Cup that too against Wales when they had withdrawn their goalkeeper late on in the game.

“Harmanpreet was doing very well in the FIH Pro League matches and in the (five match) Australia series just before the World Cup. We had a lot of expectation from him but suddenly dropping form in the World Cup is a matter of concern,” Tirkey told PTI in an exclusive interview.

The Hockey India president had a long meeting following their unexpected exit from the World Cup. He also highlighted the need for more drag flickers in the team as modern hockey needs more drag flickers so that it does not become a burden on a certain player.

“There are also some up and coming drag-flickers in the team. Drag-flickers are very important in modern hockey and we will plan accordingly,” added Tirkey.

India were simply horrible from penalty corners as their conversion rate was very poor. Apart from Harmanpreet, Amit Rohidas tried a couple of times but players like Jarmanpreet Singh or Nilam Sandeep Xess were simply underwhelming. Even someone of Harmanpreet’s calibre should have done a lot better if you think in that way.

“Ultimately, as I said earlier also, if we don’t score more goals from penalty corners we will face issues and that was what happened yesterday,” the former India captain and current Hockey India president added in disappointment.

It was a golden chance for India to make the World Cup big as it was at home in Odisha with fans cheering their hearts out for their favourite players.

Tirkey also shared how the team had a comfortable 3-1 lead and still allowed the New Zealand players to equalize. He highlighted the poor defensive structure in the final quarter of the game. He even blamed the poor execution in the shootout despite the best efforts of both the goalkeepers. He felt that the goalkeepers were keeping India in the game but the others simply did not take their chances.

“We got enough opportunities to win the match against New Zealand. We were leading 3-1 and we could have done better in the defensive structure. After that in the shootout, both our goalkeepers did very well and gave us opportunities to win the match. But we missed the chances in the shootout also and lost the match. Kahi na kahi jita huwa match ko hum unko de diya hey (Somehow, a match we should have won was gifted to them),” the Hockey India president concluded.

India will now play Japan in the first classification match on 26th January and will again be in action two days later. Turkey remained tight lipped when asked about dismissal of coach or captain after such a poor outing in front of home fans. However he underlined on the Asian Games being the next big project for the men in blue.