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Hockey India President Dilip Tirkey expressed his pride and joy at Odisha's historic triumph in the senior National men's hockey championship. Born and raised in Sundargarh, a district renowned for its passion for hockey, Tirkey attributed the sport's popularity to the abundance of artificial pitches, sports hostels, and government support."Sundargarh has over a dozen artificial pitches and numerous sports hostels. The State Government provides significant support," Tirkey explained. "In fact, Odisha boasts the best infrastructure for hockey. Earlier, Odisha players played for private teams in the Nationals. Now, we have formed a formidable team."Tirkey emphasized the importance of the Nationals for Hockey India, acknowledging the need to review the tournament format. "We are discussing the need for a change. Some teams have conceded a lot of goals, which is not conducive to the future of Indian hockey," he said.Regarding the absence of current India players in the Nationals, Tirkey cited international tournaments and the upcoming Hockey India League as reasons for their rest. "We want our national players to participate in the Nationals. But with so many international events and the HIL, we wanted them to rest," he explained.Tirkey also addressed the role of Hockey India's High Performance Director in promoting grassroots talent. "We are organizing programs for boys and girls in various age groups. Our High Performance Director and his team are actively involved in scouting and development," he said.

Indian hockey goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh urged his team to seize their second chance at an Olympic medal in Paris 2024, despite their heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Germany in the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics.Sreejesh, who will retire from international hockey after the bronze medal match against Spain on Thursday, emphasized the importance of securing a medal for the country. "It's a medal match, and it's not about me; it's about the country, the 19 players, and the staff," he said. "We have one last opportunity to play, to get a medal for our country, and we should focus on that rather than dwelling on what happened today."The veteran custodian acknowledged that India missed several chances, including penalty corners. "We had our opportunities but couldn't convert many of them. You can see it in the scoreline. It's a matter of homework," he said. "They did a wonderful job against Harman, how to tackle him. He's one of the best drag-flickers in the world, and that's what they did against us."Despite the setback, Sreejesh praised his team's fighting spirit. "My players have done a wonderful job. They fought back, they really stood tall. Unfortunately, we couldn't finish it the way we wanted. It's not an easy deal," he said.Sreejesh expressed confidence in the team's ability to bounce back against Spain in the bronze medal match. "We are tough. I believe we will bounce back in a better way. This consultation will have to be about how to fight that bronze medal match more than discussing this loss," he said. "We need to look at this match also because from there we will realize what went wrong and what we can do better. Because a lot of the opposition look into these kinds of matches, they learn how they can hurt us in certain ways. So we need to find that out and we need to block that.""Spain is not an easy team. They are real fighters. The way they played in the quarterfinals showed that we can't be in a relaxing chair," Sreejesh added.