Women coach blamed again
Saurabh Duggal, Hindustan Times
Had Hockey India (HI) paid heed to manager Rupa Saini’s post-Commonwealth Games report, the women’s hockey team could have fared better at the Asian Games. After the Delhi Games, Saini, in her report to the sports ministry and HI, had stated that coach, Sandeep Somesh, was responsible for the CWG debacle Saini had said in her report that if India wanted to win a medal in Guangzhou, Somesh, an inexperienced and unqualified coach, should not accompany the team. She had also recommended that the women coaches be given charge.
The team finished fourth on Wednesday after losing the bronze-medal match to Japan.
The report did not cut ice with the HI as it dropped both the women coaches, Pritam Rani Siwach and Sandeep Kaur, from the team list. The federation also didn’t forward Saini’s name as manager for the China tour. She came on board only after the sports ministry recommended her name.
This is not the first time that Saini, a former India captain, who is also the government observer for women’s hockey, has pointed out Somesh’s inability to coach the national team.
In her Argentina World Cup report, Saini had blamed Somesh for the poor showing.
When contacted, Narinder Batra, secretary-general, HI, told HT, “This is not the right time to discuss the issue. Let the team get back from China, we will evaluate the performance and make the required changes. For the last couple of months, we could not focus on the teams due to court cases and other issues. We are free now and will do our best to take the team to the top again.”