Former India Hockey captain and Olympian Dilip Tirkey on Friday was elected Hockey India's president. Tirkey was elected unopposed after two others, who had filed nominations for the top post, withdrew their nominations.
It is pertinent to mention here that Dilip Tirkey holds the Indian record for most international appearances, with 412 caps over a 15-year-long international career.
Hailing the officials and FIH for conducting smooth elections, Tirkey tweeted, “ I will ensure that Indian hockey reaches new heights.”
Tirkey had filed his nomination papers for the post of Hockey India's president on September 18. Along with Tirkey, Uttar Pradesh Hockey chief Rakesh Katyal and Hockey Jharkhand's Bhola Nath Singh had also filed their nomination papers which the duo withdrew.
Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik congratulated Dilip Tirkey on being elected as the President of the Hockey India.
The FIH also congratulated Tirkey on his election as Hockey India chief, saying in its letter from Lausanne on Friday, "At the outset, the FIH would like to thank the members of the Committee of Administrators for adhering and ensuring that the election process of Hockey India has been conducted smoothly. The FIH has been monitoring the election process through the Hockey India website and media reports in India.
HI office-bearers: President - Dilip Tirkey (Hockey Association of Odisha); Vice-president (female) - Asima Ali (Hockey Jammu & Kashmir); Vice-president (male) - S.V.S. Subramanya (Hockey Karnataka); Secretary-General - Bhola Nath Singh (Hockey Jharkhand); Treasurer - Sekar J Manoharan (Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu); Joint secretary (female) - Ms Arti Singh (Hockey Rajasthan); Joint secretary (male) - Sunil Malik (Hockey Haryana).
Executive Board Members: Arun Kumar Saraswat (Hockey Rajasthan); Asrita Lakra (Hockey Jharkhand); Gurpreet Kaur (Hockey Delhi); V Sunil Kumar (Kerala Hockey); Tapan Kumar Das (Assam Hockey).
(With Agency Inputs)