Former India captain Dilip Tirkey has been elected unopposed as the new president of Hockey India (HI). The three-time Olympian, regarded as one of India’s best defenders, was the favourite to take over as the president after he filed his nomination as the president of Odisha’s hockey federation.

The elections were supposed to be held next month, but Tirkey was named the president after Hockey Jharkhand president Bhola Nath Singh withdrew his candidature for the post. Singh was elected unopposed as the secretary general of the new HI executive. Singh is a known loyalist of Narinder Batra, the former president of the Indian Olympic Association, International Hockey Federation (FIH) and the HI. The Tamil Nadu federation’s chief, Sekar J Manoharan, was also elected unopposed as the new treasurer.