Hockey India turns a deaf ear to chief coach Jose's repeated pleas for practice matches in the run-up to the Asian Games
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Hockey India ignores coach Brasa's pleas for practice matches
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Hockey India turns a deaf ear to chief coach Jose's repeated pleas for practice matches in the run-up to the Asian Games
The Asian Games is the very tournament that pushed Indian hockey to doom four years ago. Back in 2006 at the Doha Asiad, the team finished poorly and were forced to win a six-nation Olympic qualifier tournament in Chile, which they subsequently lost. Thus, they failed to qualify for the Olympic Games (in Beijing, 2008) for the first time in history.
It seems lessons have not been learnt from that debacle. How else can one explain Hockey India turning a deaf ear to chief coach Jose Brasa's repeated requests for practice matches at the Aoti Sports Complex here in the run-up to the Guangzhou Asian Games.
No practice
"We landed here almost a week ago - on November 4. But we haven't played a single practice match on these grounds," a furious Brasa told MiD DAY at the Athletes Village here yesterday.
It is learnt that the Spaniard, whose association with Indian hockey (since May last year) is set to end after the Asiad as his contract runs out, had requested Hockey India in writing as well as verbally to arrange matches with teams from other countries here to help the Indians acclimatise and get a feel of some vital match-play.
"No one from Hockey India has even contacted us about the possibility of a match, let alone trying to facilitate one. This is not good preparation for a team that is eyeing a gold medal here in a bid to gain automatic qualification for the 2010 London Olympics," added Brasa.
Significance
The significance of practice matches may be gauged from India's fine showing at last month's Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. The hosts played three practice ties with England that proved crucial when the two sides met in the semi-finals of the same event. India beat England and went on to play the gold medal match against Australia.
Meanwhile, team manager Anupam Ghulati defended Hockey India when he said that there were no teams to practice with.
"We, in fact, inaugurated the Games Village when we moved in here a few days ago. There are no teams to practice with. The Malaysian hockey team is moving in only today.
"In such a scenario, a practice game could not be organised. However, this has not hurt the team's preparation. The boys have been training hard and are focused on the job of winning gold for the country," said Ghulati.
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