HOCKEY

Women's coach Hawgood faces uncertain future

hockey-india-women-pti Representative image | PTI

Fresh from its win in the Asian Champions Trophy, the Indian women's hockey team is all set to tour Australia for a Test series amidst uncertainty over chief coach Neil Hawgood's future. Hawgood's contract ends in December and a final call will be taken in due course as per Sports Authority of India (SAI) officials.

From Australia,  Hawgood took charge of the team in November 2015 and under him, the team qualified for Rio Olympics after a gap of 36 years. His next big achievement was the team winning the Asian Champions Trophy last week beating China, Asia's top ranked team. Hawgood admitted that his contract discussion was due. “It's to be discussed, there are many considerations,” he said on the sidelines of the team's felicitation by the Union ministry for youth affairs and sports in New Delhi on Thursday. 

A senior SAI official said that a final decision on whether to retain Hawgood or appoint a new coach will be taken in coming weeks. “The decision has to be taken. There are a few names up for consideration,” said the official on condition of anonymity. Hockey India is currently busy with the forthcoming International Hockey Federation (FIH) elections in which its president N.K.Batra is also a prime contender for the president's post. Any decision will be taken only post Batra's return from the FIH  meeting in Dubai on November 12. 

Earlier this month, Indian eves were crowned Asian Champions for the first time after defeating China 2-1 in a thrilling encounter that displayed their conviction and hunger for victory.  Before this, India's best finish in the Women's Asian Champions Trophy came in the last edition in 2013 when it finished runner-up to Japan. India had beaten Malaysia, Korea, drew with Japan and lost to China in the league phase before beating the latter in the finals. 

Terming the ACT win as important post Rio Olympics where the girls had looked overawed by the occasion, Hawgood said, “The interesting part is, after Olympics, everyone rebuilds—China, Japan and India are rebuilding. What we saw  was a glimpse of maybe what 2020 would be like. From that point of view,  it's good to know you can compete against oppositions and what they could look like.”

The eventual goal is 2020 Tokyo Olympics,  but before that the big one for Indian eves will be the 2018 Asian Games which will offer a direct entry to the continental champions. “If we have to win in Asian Games, we are 2.5 years away from it. In those 2-3 years, if we can keep developing we are a lot closer to them (top Asian teams),” said the India coach. 

India has started widening its talent pool to pick the best for the big events. They used four debutantes in the ACT competition in Singapore. “We have probably 2-3 debutantes for the tour to Australia. So within two tournaments we are looking to expose seven new players,” said Hawgood.

Hockey India had also honoured the team with a cash prize announcement of Rs 2 Lakhs each for the players and Chief Coach Hawgood. Besides this, Hockey India also announced Rs 1 Lakh for the other support staff of the team. Prize of Rs 1 Lakh was announced for Deepika –the highest scorer of the tournament.

According to Hawgood, the players learnt a really good lesson from their Rio Olympics experience which was put to good use in Singapore. “Post Rio is always a let down, freshen up and start afresh because most countries don't get a break for three and a half years. The players learnt a big lesson from their Rio experience. They went into Olympics not knowing about it; men have Olympians amidst their group. There was a case of stage fright.” 

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