Mumbai: Former India hockey captain Viren Rasquinha has been impressed with the progress made by current coach Roelant Oltmans, and believes that the country’s federation should do everything in their power to keep the Dutchman for the national team.
India reigned supreme at the recently concluded Asian Champions Trophy, in Kuantan, with a satisfying 3-2 win over arch-rivals Pakistan, on Sunday.
This win comes a few months after India defeated their arch-rivals to qualify for the Rio Olympics, earlier this year. While India have been impressive under Oltmans, their performance at the Rio Olympics left much to be desired.
Regarded as one of the many medal prospects for the country in Rio, India could only progress to the quarterfinals, where they suffered a 3-1 loss at the hands of Belgium.
While Oltmans’ contract as the head coach of the men’s national team and the High Performance Director for Hockey India comes to an end next year, there has been talk of retaining the 62-year-old.
Ex-captain Viren Rasquinha said, that India should try and retain Oltmans, as the Dutchman has familiarised himself with how the sport is being governed in the country.
“Hockey Coach Roelant Oltmans knows the Indian system well. We should retain him,” said Rasquinha in an interview with NDTV.
The 36-year-old also went on to praise the national team, saying that any win against Pakistan is a big one.
“The composure of the current Indian hockey team is better than previous sides,” he said. “It's always great to defeat Pakistan in hockey. The rivalry goes back a long way.”
However, the 36-year-old, who is now the CEO of Olympic Gold Quest, an initiative that funds Indian athletes for their training, also said that the Indians must now carry this win forward from the continental to the international stage.
“Indian hockey team should now try to win tournaments at world level.”
