The Hindu: A tournament to help identify strengths and weaknesses, says Oltmans

By Uthra Ganesan

If there was one person angrier than Indian hockey mandarins at the end of the controversial shootout against Australia in the Champions Trophy final, it was coach Roelant Oltmans and not only because of the result.

The Dutchman, a stickler for rules and processes, was fuming because the umpires had, according to him, not followed the right process.

But as India prepares to take on Germany in its opening game of another six-nation tournament in Valencia on Monday, Oltmans has already consigned that event to history, focusing on the road ahead to Rio instead.

“Every tournament is different so if you ask me what effect the Champions Trophy will have on this event, I cannot say.

“Or, for that matter, what these two events indicate about the Rio Olympics,” said Oltmans said from Valencia.

“Does the Champions Trophy or this event tell us anything about how the teams will perform at Rio? No it doesn’t. It only helps teams identify strengths and weaknesses. At this stage and level, it is all about that day’s performance.

“What I can tell is that the level of teams at Rio will be different from London.

“And for every team, including India, the level at London was not enough for Rio,” he added.

His manpower has been strengthened with the arrival of seniors including captain Sardar Singh, striker Ramandeep Singh and defenders Rupinderpal Singh and the injured Birendra Lakra.

Oltmans is impressed with the efforts they have put in maintaining the fitness levels despite being away from the team.

“As for Lakra, it is unbelievable what he and Shrikant (Iyengar, the physio) have managed to do since his surgery on March 3.

Normally, it takes much longer to reach this level in rehabilitation but they have done what most people would think impossible.

“Of course we have to ease him in and take care of the injury.

“He may not play all the five matches — it will be too much — but we will play him and see his recovery,” Oltmans explained.

Lakra had injured his knee during the Hockey India League and Oltmans said the main aim of including him in the side for this tournament was to make him match fit by giving him a competitive outing.

“That’s why he is here and that’s what we are here for”, Oltmans said.