No one had a clue of India coach Harendra Singh's 'resignation with immediate effect' after yesterday's loss to Malaysia in the Asian Games semi-final here
No one had a clue of India coach Harendra Singh's 'resignation with immediate effect' after yesterday's loss to Malaysia in the Asian Games semi-final here. Harendra wrote in his e-mail to Hockey India secretary Narendra Batra after yesterday's 3-4 loss that he was stepping down in view of the dismal performance of the Indian team in the semi-final against Malaysia and that he was accepting moral responsibility for the debacle.
However, when MiD DAY spoke to a few support staff members about the resignation, they pleaded ignorance.
Even a couple of senior players said they had no clue. To top it all, chief coach Jose Brasa also had no idea that his deputy had quit his job. "I don't believe you. Harinder loves Indian hockey too much and could never have done such a thing," the Spaniard told MiD DAY. "But if he has, then it is very bad because we are in the middle of a tournament. We still have a bronze medal match to play and this is not the time for him to do such a thing. This will hurt Indian hockey," added Brasa, who also said that he does not expect any renewal of his contract to come from Hockey India. "My contract expires after the Asian Games and I don't expect any offer of a new deal coming from Hockey India. But what I would like to say is that India's job of qualifying for the London 2012 Olympics has only become tougher now after today's semi-final loss," he said.
