Roelant Oltmans has a rethink
Hockey India high performance director Roelant Oltmans has had a rethink about his stint in the country post the conclusion of World League semifinals in Antwerp last Sunday. Sources said the Dutchman had decided to resign after issues surfaced between him and Hockey India.
However, Oltmans has decided to stay on for now.
Hockey India, meanwhile, has asked Oltmans, coach Paul van Ass and senior team officials to submit their reports on India’s mediocre outing at the World League, where they finished fourth following huge losses to Belgium and Great Britain. Following the submission of the reports, the governing body will conduct a thorough evaluation of the performance of players as well as team management.
Oltmans, who has also played the role of interim coach of both men’s and women’s team, is believed to have had some disagreements over next month’s test series against Holland but the exact reason for his ‘decision’ is not known.
India were scheduled to play a series against London Olympics and World Cup silver medallists but the tour has now been called off.
No breakdown
According to Sports Authority of India’s policy, a tour has to be confirmed and sanctioned 90 days in advance but the Dutch series was planned recently. Sources said Holland hockey federation’s decision to not send players for next year’s Hockey India League also was one of the reasons for canceling the tour.
However, both Oltmans and Hockey India president Narinder Batra denied that there was a breakdown.
“It’s not true. I am in Delhi and already planning the road ahead,” Oltmans said. Batra added: “I have received no such communication from Roelant. He has handled men and women teams and the women will for the first time qualify for Olympics once it is confirmed in October.”
Batra, however, said everybody will be questioned over the team’s performance in Antwerp and the evaluation will ‘not be a joke’. “We have given everyone time up to July 15 to submit their reports to us. We are going to Olympics, so it’s important that we take corrective measures right now. The way we have performed in Antwerp, if that means taking tough decisions, then we will not hesitate in doing that as well,” he said.
Postmortem to be conducted
Batra said the management will submit its report by July 15 and they will then meet to conduct a postmortem of the team’s performance. “We have beaten Australia last year so to lose to teams like Great Britain, Belgium is not done. We are not going to Olympics to finish last again. It’s just one year before the Rio Games and we need to act now. Between 15th and end of July, we will take all the calls,” he said.
