New Delhi: Hockey India (HI) on Monday said it will “thoroughly review” the team’s poor performance in the Azlan Shah Cup and will not hesitate to take harsh decisions considering a slew of important tournaments, including the Olympic qualifiers, just round the corner.
India, who were joint winners along with South Korea in the last edition, finished sixth among seven teams on Sunday.
HI secretary general Narinder Batra said the coaching and development committee under Pargat Singh will soon meet coach Harendra Singh, captain Arjun Halappa and other members of the coaching staff to discuss the team’s performance.
“The performance of the team will be thoroughly reviewed. We cannot afford to brush it under the carpet. The team has fared badly and we need to pin down areas where we are lacking.
“We have have to quickly take corrective measures. There are important tournaments this year,” Batra told IANS.
Asked whether HI are open to the idea of hiring a foreign coach, Batra said: “We have to see if there is a requirement of a foreign coach. We are open to every possibility to better the performance of the team.”
India’s previous foreign coach Jose Brasa’s term ended after the Asian Games in November 2010 and HI did not extend him a new contract.
After inviting applications for the coach’s job, HI decided to stick with Brasa’s deputy Harendra, who had resigned taking moral responsibility of the performance in the Asian Games where India finished outside the medal bracket.
At Ipoh, India lost their first match to South Korea (2-3), twice squandering the lead. They came back to beat Britain (3-1) and Malaysia (5-2) and drew with eventual winners Australia (1-1). India then lost to Pakistan (1-3) for the first time in six meetings since the World Cup in Feb-March 2010.
They were drubbed by New Zealand (3-7) that blew away their chances of a podium finish. India went down to South Korea (1-2) for a second time in the classification match on Sunday.
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