Jugraj, Lobo back in camp
In a complete turnaround, assistant coaches Jugraj Singh and Clarence Lobo — whose names were missing from the Hockey India list submitted to the Sports Authority of India for the second phase of the National hockey probables camp — were back in the fold with SAI approval on Wednesday.
Last week, assistant coaches Jugraj and Lobo were in a shock when their names were missing from the list for the second phase of the camp, meaning they could travel to Bangalore but their expenditure had to be borne by Hockey India and not by SAI.
Although Jugraj and Clarence did make the trip to Bangalore with HI agreeing to foot their bill for the 20-day camp, they were in for another surprise after finding out that their names were back in the ‘approved list’ while Baljit Singh Saini, Mohd Riaz and KJ?Kariappa were relegated to the ‘not approved’ category.
“I am not responsible for the confusion,” said Inderjit Singh Pabla, Project Officer (Teams) of SAI New Delhi, who approves the list of names sent by any sporting associations seeking training at SAI. “Whatever list is sent to me, I approve it, provided it does not conflict with SAI’s interests.
“Initially HI sent a letter without Jugraj and Clarence’s names. After they joined the camp, HI sent another letter seeking SAI?funding for those two. Baljit, Riaz, Kariappa and S?S?Grewal’s names are in the ‘HI funded’ category. They will continue to be with the campers at SAI but their expenses will be met by HI,” he said.