Terry Walsh played a key role in revival: Mandeep Singh

RANCHI: Terry Walsh made an unceremonious departure from Indian hockey but if forward Mandeep Singh is to be believed, the 61-year-old Australian was playing a key role in the revival of the game in India.

“Terry was a great coach. We did really well under him. He was very hard-working and would make us work equally hard during the training sessions. Had he still been the coach, he would have surely done our hockey a lot of good,” said Mandeep.

Plying his trade for Ranchi Rays in the ongoing Hockey India League (HIL), the 20 year-old has no clue about the actual reason behind Walsh’s sudden decision to quit his position even after a fairly successful run last year with the national squad.

“We don’t know why he left. We won medals at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games under him and were all happy to get a coach like Terry.”

Mandeep, however, went on to say that India’s high-performance director Roelant Oltmans, too, had a huge impact on the team’s technical and mental aspects despite Walsh’s resignation just before Champions Trophy in December.

“Oltmans got us together just 10 days before the tournament and made us practise really hard. Prior to that, we had done well in Australia in the Test series and it is always fun to be with someone like him. He keeps the atmosphere of the team light but when it’s time to get serious, he makes you go through the grind,” remarked the Jalandhar lad.

Having grown up idolizing Sardar and Sandeep Singh, it’s a dream come true for Mandeep to have represented the nation under the captaincy of the former. “When I used to play hockey at school and later on during the national camps, I always wanted to play like Sardar and Sandeep.”