Former India hockey captain Dilip Tirkey feels that India has a very good chance to qualify for the Beijing Olympics if recent form of the team is any indication.

“We have shown to the world that we can win major events when we lifted the Asia Cup recently in Chennai. We have the potential and the desire to perform well in the coming days,” he said.

Speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of an inter-schools hockey tournament here on Tuesday, Dilip, the elder statesman of Indian hockey, says the most pleasing aspect of the current Indian team is the team spirit and the way each one of them is responding to different situations.

“We have a very good coach (Joaqim Carvalho) who understands each and every player and is focussing on getting the best out of us on the field with simple training methods,” the India star said.

“The forwardline comprising players like Prabhjot Singh and Rajpal Singh is good enough to test the best of the rival defences on the field,” said Tirkey. “We are making conscious efforts to ensure that there is a high percentage of short-corner conversion and special training is being given to Raghunath in this aspect. Lots of variations are also being worked out. We should do well in the Olympic qualifying event in Chile in March next year,” he said.

What separates this Indian team from the previous ones? “There is lot of understanding amongst the players. The way we are gelling together is something which is heartening. The methods — both training and ensuring one-to-one relationships — are a novelty and should fetch results,” Tirkey said. Commenting on the contribution of the movie Chak de India to a revival of sorts of Indian hockey, Tirkey thanked the filmmakers for focussing on a sport which was badly in need of a major fillip.

“It did help in motivating many of the players — not just the current lot, but also past players, to give something back to the sport,” Tirkey said.

(Courtesy, The Hindu)