Coach Nobbs to join national hockey camp on Sunday

BANGALORE: A quick clean-up of the Polytan turf is all that needs to be done at Sports Authority of India, South Centre, ahead of the national hockey camp that begins on Friday.

The month-long camp will see new chief coach Michael Jack Nobbs spend a few days at SAI from Sunday, return to his home country Australia before he settles down to spearhead India’s fortunes for the next five years.

Assisting him at the camp would be former internationals Mohd Riaz, Jugraj Singh, Baljit Singh Saini besides Clarence Lobo and ASC’s BJ Kariappa, who coached Karnataka to the final of the recent National Championships. Hockey India’s director of coaching, SS Grewal, will be in charge of the camp until Nobbs’ return at the end of the month.

Around 91 probables have been selected for the camp, a huge number that will be progressively pruned to 48 by the end of the month. That will be the final figure of the core probables for the London Olympics.

Bangalore will be the chosen location for the national camp as the probables will return again in August after a short break before making their way to two tournaments – the Asian Champions Trophy in Ordos, China, from September 3-11 and the twin four-nation events in Amritsar and Jalandhar from September 22. India have a packed schedule thereafter culminating in the eight-nation Champions Trophy in New Delhi from November 26 to December 4.

Hockey India executive director Anupam Gulati, who expressed satisfaction at the facilities, said the game was making a fresh beginning after the Nationals. “We have a mix of players here from the senior and junior sections as well as from the development team. They will be put through medical and physical tests and their skills will be analysed before we pick the best from the lot to form the core probables. We are also planning camps for the development team, juniors and sub-juniors and they will follow soon.”

Gulati, who inspected the sports medicine centre, the men’s hostel, the dining hall besides the two turfs, was satisfied with the facilities. “We always knew Bangalore had the best of facilities. The weather too is good. It’s time we got started.”

With the coaches arriving only on Sunday, SAI has found itself with some extra time to clean the main turf. It has sought the help of Madras Engineers Group. “We should complete it in two days,” SAI director G Kishore told TOI. “MEG will also help us in putting in place an interim arrangement to water the second turf which doesn’t have a sprinkler system. The floodlights at the main venue too will also be reset soon.”