THE WORLD PORTAL

DILIP TIRKEY

All Indian hockey lovers were shocked to hear the news is that their favorite player Dilip Tirkey was retired from international hockey. This experienced hockey player ended his 15 years hockey career due to ankle injury. Dilip Tirkey has played 408 matches in his outstanding 15-year old career. He is the winner of Arjun Award, Padmashri and Eklavya Award and he is considered as one of the best penalty corner hitters in the world.

BIOGRAPHY

Former Indian hockey captain Dilip Tirkey was born on 24th November 1977 in Sundargarh, Orissa, India as the son of Vincent Tirkey and Resina Tirkey. His father and brother Anoop Tirkey were also hockey players. He belongs to the Oraon tribe of Chota Nagpur. His international hockey career started in 1995 against England in the Indira Gandhi Gold Cup. Soon, this Oriya adivasi player became the captain of the Indian hockey team. He participated in three Olympic games including Atlanta 1996,  Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004. Thus he became the only Oriya player to represent India in three Olympic Games. He also played in two World Cups, four Champions Trophy tournaments and three Asian Games. Under the leadership of Tirkey, ‘Orissa Steelers’ hockey club won the 3rd Premier Hockey League title of India and he was selected as the best player in that tournament. He has also played for foreign clubs like HC Klein Switzerland at Amsterdam. Now he is playing for Indian Airlines. With his aggressive defense and a dangerous penalty hitting, he is considered as as one of the most intelligent international hockey players of all times. He is married to Mira Tirkey and now he is working as the Assistant Manager in Indian Airlines. On 2nd May, 2010,  Dilip Tirkey was retired from international hockey due to injuries. Though he was retired, he will remain in touch with Indian hockey as the coach of the young talented players.

HOCKEY WORLD CUP, 2010 WINNER-AUSTRALIA

Australia proved that they are the number one team in hockey by winning the ‘World Cup, 2010′. They defeated two-time defending champion Germany with the score 2-1 in the final of the ‘World Cup’ hockey on Saturday. Thus the Australians overshadowed the dream of Germany to become the first team in history to bag a hat-trick of World Cup title. This victory was Australia’s first victory after their 24- year world cup victory. Australia’s first world cup victory was in the year 1986 against England. In addition, Australia was beaten by Germany in the previous two World Cup finals in 2002 and 2006.

ABOUT AUSTRALIAN HOCKEY TEAM

Australian hockey team is the most successful team in the world. This team won any medal in the last five Summer Olympics and won a gold medal in 2004 Olympics. They are the winner of ‘Champions Trophy’ for ten times and in last December, they won their 10th Champions Trophy by beating Olympic champions Germany in the final. They won their first World Cup title in 1986 by defeating England in the final. Now they gained their second World Cup title by beating two-time defending champion and Olympic champion Germany in the final. Australia started this World Cup campaign with a loss against England. After that, they never looked back, and they won the victory against India with the score 5-3, against South Africa with record score 12-0, against Spain with 2-0, against Pakistan with 2-1 in the qualifying round matches. In the semi final, Australia defeated Netherlands with the score 2-1. At last, they won their second World Cup title by defeating Germany in the final with the score 2-1. Former Australian player Ric Charlesworth is the current coach of the Australian team and now he holds a unique record of winning the World Cup as a player and a coach, because he was the captain of the 1986 Cup squad.

Australian squad : Des Abbott, George Bazeley, Graeme Begbie, Kiel Brown, Nathan Burgers, Matthew Butturini, Liam De Young, Luke Doerner, Jamie Dwyer, Kieran Govers, Rob Hammond, Fergus Kavanagh, Mark Knowles, Eddie Ockenden, Simon Orchard, Grant Schubert, Matthew Swann, Glenn Turner.