HI President Dilip Tirkey announces 1st Women's Hockey India League

By: WE Staff | Monday, 26 August 2024

India is set to host its first-ever Women's Hockey India League, a significant event in promoting women's sports. Hockey India President Dilip Tirkey announced the league will provide visibility, competitive opportunities, and professional development for female hockey players, raising the sport's standard and inspiring a new generation of female athletes.

HI President mentioned, "Odisha government is the backbone of Hockey India. Hockey is developing a lot in India after the Odisha government started supporting us. Our plan is the Hockey India League (HIL) it's a very important platform for young players and also young coaches. For us, the main important thing is that for the first time, women's HIL is going to happen, Hockey India is focusing on the success of both men's and women's HIL. For our future, our main focus will be the Asian Games and FIH World Cup. 2028 Olympics is also important."

Hockey India has shown impressive performance in the last four years, with Harmanpreet Singh leading the team to back-to-back bronze medals at the Paris Olympics. He scored 10 goals in eight matches, surpassing Australia's Blake Govers. India finished in 71st place during the Paris Olympics medals tally.

Dilip Tirkey congratulated every player in the men's hockey team including the coach and captain Harmanpreet for their brilliant performance and resiliency. In the past four years, Hockey India has displayed a stunning performance. In the Tokyo Olympics, we won bronze, and again in the Paris Olympics we won bronze, also a gold medal in Asian Games, he said.