HI gives up on team before World Cup begins

NEW DELHI: Hockey India (HI) has thrown in the towel even before the Indian women’s hockey team can begin its campaign in the World Cup in Argentina.

On Saturday, the day the team left for Rosario for the August 28 to September 11 event, HI said in an official press release that the campaign “may not produce the expected result”.

The reason? A majority of the set of coaches has been with the team for less than a week, says HI.

The team is touring without a chief coach in the wake of MK Kaushik’s resignation. Sandeep Somesh, Khalid Modi, Sandeep Kaur and Pritam Siwach are accompanying the team as coaches. Somesh and Modi were with the team for some time while Kaur and Siwach have joined the team only recently.

HI is upset that its candidate CR Kumar was not chosen by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) as national coach in place of Kaushik. “CR Kumar is a very experienced and learned coach having been with the Indian men’s national team for many years, besides being the head coach of the Malaysian women’s national team at the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games,” HI said in a statement. “The Indian women’s team for this World Cup has gone with a set of coaches which includes a few who have coached the girls for less than one week. In view of this… the team may not produce the expected results.”

Interestingly, had SAI picked Kumar as national coach, he too would have got not more than a few days to coach the players. In comparison, Somesh – who is heading the coaching panel – has been with the team for a long period and can provide crucial inputs at the Cup. Insiders said that HI’s strange stand is merely creating an excuse for itself in case the team fails to do well in the World Cup.

Itinerary:

Aug 30: vs The Netherlands

Sept 1: vs Australia

Sept 3: vs Germany

Sept 5: vs Japan

Sept 7: vs New Zealand

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Dipika Murty, Etimarpu Rajani.

Defenders: Binita Toppo, Subhadra Pradhan, Joydeep Kaur; Midfielders: Asunta Lakra, Kirandeep Kaur, Mukta P Barla, Deepika Thakur, Ritu Rani.

Forwards: Surinder Kaur (Capt), Jasjeet Handa, S Yendala, Rani Rampal, Saba Anjum, Chanchan Devi Thokchom, Poonam Rani, Monika Badran.

Officials: Sandeep Somesh, Khalid Modi, Sandeep Kaur, Pritam Siwach (all coaches); Bimla Bhatia (doctor), Ankita Tandon (physiotherapist), H Nalini (video analyst), Ranjit Gill (logistics support), Rupa Saini (manager).