‘Some players were not happy with Oltmans’

By Paritosh Pramanik
NAGPUR, Sept 2

THE sacking of Indian men’s hockey team’s coach Roelant Oltmans comes as a shock for the world but a few current players were against the 68-year-old Dutchman.
Hockey India took the tough decision after the three-day power-packed meeting ended on Saturday. The meeting was attended by Harbinder Singh, BP Govinda, Vasudevan Baskaran, Thoiba Singh, AB Subbaiah, Dr RP Singh, Joydeep Kaur, Sardar Singh, PR Sreejesh, Manpreet Singh, Roelant Oltmans, Jugraj Singh, Arjun Halappa, Scott Conway, David John, Elena Norman, Mariamma Koshy, Md Mushtaque Ahmad Rajinder Singh, Tapan Das, Bhola Nath Singh, Firoz Ansari and Gyanendro Ningombam.
Sources told ‘The Hitavada’, several players were against Oltmans and wanted him to go. Though the Indian hockey team emerged as a much fitter side under Oltmans, it’s the performance that mattered when the Hockey India Committee members took the decision. In last one and a half years, since Rio Olympics where India finished a lowly eighth, India’s title drought has continued in major tournaments.
There were podium finishes by the Indian team at the invitational Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh, Malaysia and the Asian Champions Trophy gold in 2016.
“The sword was hanging over Oltmans’ head after India finished sixth at the Hockey World League Semi-Finals in London. Players were not against his training regimen but it was the end result that mattered,” a current player said, on condition of anonymity.
“Out of the 35 players, around 10 wanted him as coach as the fitness level had improved a lot. But the desired results were not coming,” the player added.
“Though no body is speaking openly, they will come forward in coming days,” he said.
By sacking Oltmans, Indian hockey has only continued its tradition. The KPS Gill-led regime had sacked German coach Gerhard Peter Rach before hockey India took over in 2008. After HI came into existence, the story continued. It has sacked Australian Ric Charlesworth, Spainard Jose Brasa, Australian Michael Nobbs, Terry Walsh, Dutchman Paul Van Ass and now Oltmans.