Dilip Tirkey hailing from Sundargarh, Orissa

Orissa

Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...

 is a former Indian hockey

Field hockey

Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

 player and his playing position was of full back. He was best known for his penalty corner

Penalty corner (field hockey)

The penalty corner or short corner is a special and important phase in the development of a field hockey match.Also called "PC" or simply "penalty", it is awarded to the offending team when the defending team committed a foul in its circle or a particularly bad foul in its defending quarter...

 hit. Dilip was one of the most difficult defenders (because of his tight marking skill near goal post) to beat in the world. He was an ex-captain of Indian hockey team.

Personal life

Dilip Tirkey was born to Vincent Tirkey a Oraon

Oraon

The Oraon उरांव or Kurukh कुड़ुख tribe , also spelled Uraon, Oran, or Oram, are tribal aborigines inhabiting various states across central and eastern India as well as Bangladesh...

, Adivasi

Adivasi

Adivasi is an umbrella term for a heterogeneous set of ethnic and tribal groups claimed to be the aboriginal population of India. They comprise a substantial indigenous minority of the population of India...

 and former Oriya hockey player and Regina Tirkey on 25 November 1977. His twin younger brothers Anoop Tirkey and Ajit Tirkey play for Railways. He married to Meera Tirkey on 6 February 2006 and is a father of one son. He was appointed as the Deputy manager, Air India, Bhubaneswar in 1996.

Career

He debuted in 1995 against England

England national field hockey team

The England national field hockey team represents England in international field hockey. The team finished in fifth-place in the 2006 Men's Hockey World Cup in Mönchengladbach, Germany....

. He represented India in 1996 Atlanta

India at the 1996 Summer Olympics

India competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States.- Bronze:* Leander Paes — Tennis, Men's Singles Competition.-Archery:In India's third appearance in Olympic archery, the nation was represented by three men...

, 2000 Sydney

India at the 2000 Summer Olympics

- Bronze:* Karnam Malleswari — Weightlifting, Women's 69kg Competition.-Men's competition:Men's 400 m*Paramjit Singh*# Round 1 - 46.64 Men's 4x100 m*Rajeev Bala Krishnan, C. Thirugnana Durai, Anil Kumar, Raj Singh Ajay...

 and 2004 Athens Olympics

India at the 2004 Summer Olympics

-Silver:*Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore — Shooting, Men's Double Trap.-Contingent by sport:-Men's individual:* Satyadev Prasad - 11th place* Tarundeep Rai - 43rd place* Majhi Sawaiyan - 59th place-Women's individual:* Reena Kumari - 15th place...

 and had a total of 412 international caps. He is the only Adivasi to represent three Olympics.

On 2 May 2010 he announced his retirement from international arena.

He declined to become a National selector on July 16, 2010, three days after he was offered the post by Indian Hockey Federation.

Awards and Honours

S.No.	Awards	Year
1	Padma Shree	2004
2	Arjun Award	2002
3	Ekalavya award	1996
4	ONGC-Hockey Year Book Award	1998
5	Biju Patnaik Sportsperson of the Year Award	2004
6	Ricoh Hockey Star of the Year	2009

Honours

• Included in the Junior World XI in 1997
• Included in the Asian XI in 2002
• Selected for World All-Star team in 2006
• Selected for World All-Star team in 2007
• Received the 2nd Ricoh Hockey Star of the Year Award in Bhubaneswar on July 6, 2010
• Received the honorary Doctorate from Sambalpur University
  Sambalpur University
  Sambalpur University is located at Sambalpur, India in the Indian state of Orissa. Popularly known as Jyoti Vihar. It offers courses at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels. Governor of Orissa is the Chancellor of the university...
  
  on July 15, 2010

Achievements

• First-ever tribal to get Padma Shree Award
• India's highest capped (412 matches) hockey international and third highest in the world
• Only Adivasi to represent India in 3 Olympic Games.
• 1995: 7th SAF Games at Chennai (Champions)
• 1996: Olympic Games at Atlanta, USA (8th place)
• 1997: Under-21 Test Series against Germany (Winners)
• 1997: Under-21 Challengers Cup Tournament at Poznan, Poland (Winners)
• 1997: Junior World Cup at Milton Keynes, England (Runners-up)
• 1998: Asian Games at Bangkok (Gold medal)
• 1999: Asia Cup at Kuala Lumpur (Bronze medal)
• 2000: Olympic Games at Sydney (7th place)
• 2000: 10th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Tournament at Kuala Lumpur (Bronze medal)
• 2002: Champions Trophy at Cologne, Germany (4th place), as Captain
• 2002: Asian Games at Busan, South Korea ( Silver medal ), as Captain
• 2003: Asia Cup at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Champions)
• 2003: Afro-Asian Games at Hyderabad (Gold medal), as Captain
• 2004: Olympic Games at Athens, Greece (7th place), as Captain