Career
He plays as a Fullback and has captained the Indian team He also serves the Madras Engineering Group (Madras Sappers corps of engineers) Indian army as junior commissioned officer He holds the rank of Subedar.
Ignace Tirkey"s younger brother Prabodh Tirkey also represented India in hockey.
He is a product of Panposh Sports Hostel, Rourkela where he was spotted by Indian Army to help him pursue his career. Tirkey made his debut for the national side in February 2001 at the Akbar el Yom Tournament in Cairo against Belgium.
In club hockey, Tirkey played for Services. He is most remembered for his goal that he scored between Pakistan"s ace striker, Sohail Abbas"s legs in the final minutes of 2003 Asia Cup final to give India the winning lead after both teams were locked at 2-2 (India eventually added a 4th goal in the last minute).
