From Dilip Tirkey’s village, Amit Rohidas is a new hope for the tribal kids of Sundargarh

By Saurabh Duggal

During the entire hockey matches – pool matches and knockout stage – at the Tokyo Olympics, Amit Rohidas was the man dependable at the defence area, especially at his role of a rusher to defuse the opponent’s penalty corner attempt.

Almost in every match he stood out and contributed in the country’s historic bronze medal in Tokyo. India won the medal in Olympics after a gap of 41 years.  For a bronze medal match, India defeated Germany 5-4 on Thursday.  

Rohidas, who hails from the tribal belt of the northwestern part of Odisha, took us to the era another famous player from the tribal belt --- Dilip Tirkey.

Hockey, a way of life

“Dilip sir has a major role to play in my career and I hail from his village Sounamora only. He is a great motivation for the tribal kids of entire Sundargarh district or I can say for entire Odisha. For us (referring to the tribal kids), hockey is not only a sporting discipline, but a vehicle for a socio-economic growth,” Rohidas had said.

“When I started the sport, I used to play with a bamboo stick, as there was hardly any access to proper hockey sticks in my village. Now the things have changed, there is lot of development in our area and on personal front today I am playing with a Rs 15,000- Rs 20,000 stick. So, you can see what hockey has given to me.”

From Michael Kindoo, who was a member of the 1975 World Cup winning team, to three-time Olympian Tirkey to current Tokyo-bound team members Birendra Lakra and Rohidas, over 60 players --- largely tribal --- have made it to the international arena from Sundargarh district in the post-independence era.

“I am happy for Rohidas. I have seen him growing from his younger days and the way he is playing, he has a long way to go. I hope to see more and more players from the state making it to the Indian team,” said Tirkey, who has larger than life image in Odisha.