Hardly a victory, says Gill

After Indian hockey team won the Azlan Shah Cup, it received accolades from all corners but KPS Gill called it ‘hardly a victory’.

By Girish Bubna

When the former hockey chief KPS Gill was asked to give his reaction on the India’s victory in Azlan Shah Cup after a gap of 13 years, he said this was hardly a tournament.

“We did not qualify for Olympics. How do you see this team moving forward?,” questioned Gill.

He added, “In fact, we are not moving forward at all, we have lost to Australian development team, which never happened before.”

Stating that too much hype has been created around the victory, Gill termed the whole thing as ‘ridiculous’.

Gill, whose 15-year tenure as the hockey boss came to an unceremonious end last year with the Indian Olympic Association removing him by suspending the IHF, also rubbished the claims that India could finish within number six in the rankings by the end of this year.

However, the Ad-hoc committee convener Mohammad Aslam Khan refused to give his response on Gill’s comments.

“I would like to give my line but not comment on what Mr Gill has said.

“Indian team – seniors and juniors has been moving in the right direction. The team is doing very well and the coach has also been doing well. We must boost the morale of the boys and the coach. We have a long way to go,” said Khan.