Pakistan look ahead, start with a foreign coach
Prabhjot Singh writes from New Delhi
Automatic qualifier for 2012 London Olympic games will be the Guangzhou Asian Games champion. Other teams from Asia aspiring for an Olympic berth will have to go through the rigmaroles of the Olympic qualifiers. As of now besides India and Pakistan, contenders for a ticket to London will also include South Korea, Malaysia and China.
Since the performance of India, Pakistan and Korea in the ongoing 12th World Cup has been below expectations of their respective team managements, planning has already started for the future in general and the Olympic games in particular. Pakistan is seeking help of some of its friends in world hockey to locate an experienced international coach who can fine-tune the present team by working on its weaknesses and sharpen its strong points to turn it into Asian Games champion.
Former goalkeeper Shahid Ali Khan is presently the chief coach of Pakistan. Incidentally, the Pakistan Hockey Federation is currently headed by an Olympian and former international player Qasim Zia. Zia is using good offices of former Malaysian coach and Olympian Sarjit Singh to rope in a European coach.
“Yes, Pakistan is looking for a foreign coach and I am trying to help them,” says Sarjit Singh, refusing to divulge any further details. He says that new coach of the Malaysian team, after he gave up, has been his previous colleague and deputy.
He feels that China may not be a strong contender as he predicts Pakistan-Korea final giving India an outside chance of making to the Asian games final. It may be pertinent to mention here that in the 2008 Olympic Games, India had failed to qualify for the first time in 80 years. India had lost the Olympic qualifier final to Great Britain in Chile.
In the 2006 Asian games in Doha, India had failed to make the semifinal grade for the first time since hockey was introduced. The only interest left for Asian teams in the World Cup here is a chance to qualify for the elite Champions Trophy. Team finishing fifth here will definitely qualify.
A number of foreign coaches, exploring possibilities of signing contracts, are here. World Cup is an opportunity that brings the top notch not only among players, umpires, but also coaches, physical trainers and others associated with team managements.
India will have to wait till the elections to Hockey India are held. The International Hockey Federation that wanted this process to be completed by November last year has now extended the deadline till May this year because of some litigations and problems in granting affiliation to genuine and left out units. It will depend upon the new team whether to continue with the present chief coach, Jose Brasa, or look for someone else for future assignments of Indian team.