Paul van Ass, Thornton named coaches

Putting an end to speculations, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Friday announced Dutchman Paul van Ass and New Zealand’s Anthony Thornton as coaches of the National men’s and women’s hockey teams respectively.

The decision was taken on Wednesday at a special selection committee meeting that included Sports Secretary and SAI Director General Ajit Sharan, Hockey India president Narinder Batra, high performance director Roelant Oltmans, Olympian Harbinder Singh and other SAI officials.

The 54-year old van Ass emerged winner from a three-member shortlist that also included compatriot Hans Streeder and Alexander Grey of Australia after several names had been doing the rounds for some time now.

Van Ass was the head coach of the Dutch u-21 team before from 2010-2014, leading it to a silver at both the London Olympics in 2012 and the World Cup at home last year. At the club level, the 54-year-old resurrected the fortunes of the Dutch Club H.C. Gazellen-Combinatie, taking it from bottom of the table to finalist.

Thornton, meanwhile, has been working with the New South Wales Institute of Sports in Australia and has been head coach of the Australia U-21 men’s team.

The 47-year old New Zealander was part of the National side at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, where his team finished eighth. He beat Canada’s Mathias Ahrens and Fabian Gregory of South Africa, the other two shortlisted candidates, for the job.

Van Ass has not been associated with any team since the World Cup and is available to join duty immediately. Thornton, however, would have to serve a four-week notice and Hockey India is hopeful of getting him to take charge before the Hockey World League Round 2, to be held in Delhi from March 7-15.

Interestingly, the tenure for both coaches has not yet been finalised, though they are sure to continue till at least the 2016 Rio Olympics. While Batra said the federation had sought extended contracts for both van Ass and Thornton till the 2018 World Cup, SAI officials said nothing was decided yet. Both are expected to get almost the same remuneration as former coaches Terry Walsh and Neil Hawgood.

“The most important criteria for selecting the two individuals was based on whether they are capable of taking Indian hockey forward. The national team has been performing well for the last few years and we are keen that the development process not just continues but gathers pace,” Sharan said.