Foreign coach should have been roped in for hockey: Gurbux Singh

17 Sep 2008, 2119 hrs IST , PTI

KOLKATA: Former Olympian Gurbux Singh is not sure if MK Kaushik is the right person to coach the men’s hockey team and feels a foreigner would have been a better choice.

“I don’t want to say it’s a good or a bad decision. In the past, we have tried so many coaches and this comes latest in the series of experimentations,” Singh said.

“An individual can’t bring you success. The entire support staff has to contribute and I feel he (Kaushik) will need that. I think we should go for a foreigner,” he added.
Singh said the game’s administrators should take this opportunity to revive the game by planning for the World Cup in 2010.

“Indian hockey is going through a tough time. It’s been more than 25 years since we finish last four in a major tournament like World Cup or Olympics and not making it to the Beijing was the last thing to happen for Indian hockey.

“It’s time that we plan in advance and aim for at least a semi-final finish in a World Cup or Olympic meet,” he said.

A member of the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games where India won a gold and the joint captain of the bronze-medal finishing team at the 1968 Mexico City Games, Gurbux congratulated Kaushik, a member of the gold-medal winning contingent in 1980 Moscow Olympics.

“Good luck to him; it’s a tremendous job, now let’s see how he fares with the team. After his ouster in 1998, he has not coached the men’s side. I’ve not seen him.

“But he has time – of two years – on his side so he can mix with the boys and prepare them for the Commonwealth Games and then the Asian Games in 2010.”