Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medallist Nilakanta Sharma announced on Tuesday that he will retire from international hockey at the conclusion of the ongoing Asian Champions Trophy 2026.
The 31-year-old midfielder made the announcement after India opened their Asian Champions Trophy hockey campaign with a 13-0 victory over Bangladesh at the Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium in Jalandhar.
Nilakanta marked the occasion with a goal in the 26th minute, taking his international tally to 20 goals in his 163rd appearance for the Indian hockey team.
The Manipuri hockey player made his senior international debut against Belgium during India’s tour of Europe in 2017 and went on to establish himself as a mainstay in the Indian midfield.
Nilakanta’s biggest achievement came at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where he played in all eight of India’s matches during their historic bronze medal-winning campaign.
He scored his only goal of the tournament in India’s 5-3 victory over hosts Japan in the group stage.
Nilakanta also played an important part in the bronze-medal match against Germany. With India trailing 1-0, he led a counter-attack and set up Simranjeet Singh for the 17th-minute equaliser. India eventually won 5-4 to claim their first Olympic hockey medal in 41 years.
His contribution to India’s Tokyo campaign had begun even before the Olympics.
Nilakanta featured in both legs of India’s FIH Olympic Qualifier against Russia in Bhubaneswar in 2019. He scored in the 47th minute of the second leg as India won 7-1 and sealed qualification for Tokyo 2020 with an 11-3 aggregate victory.
The midfielder was also a member of India’s gold medal-winning teams at the Hangzhou 2023 and the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games.
India’s triumph in Japan earlier this month marked the country’s first successful defence of an Asian Games men’s hockey title and also secured a quota for the LA 2028 Olympics.
Nilakanta’s other major honours include gold medals at the 2018, 2023 and 2024 Asian Champions Trophy, a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022 and the Junior Hockey World Cup title in 2016.
He had also won the Junior Asia Cup in 2015 before breaking into the senior Indian team two years later.
Nilakanta was honoured with the Arjuna Award in 2021 for his contribution to Indian hockey.
He will continue to represent India for the remainder of the Asian Champions Trophy, which concludes in Mohali on November 5.
read more: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/nilakanta-sharma-india-hockey-player-retirement
