Oltmans unfazed by duel responsibility in Champions Trophy

New Delhi Discharging duel responsibility in a crucial tournament is not a new thing for Indian hockeys High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans whose primary focusnow is to prepare the team as best as he can for the Champions Trophy in the absence of justretired coach Terry WalshRoelant OltmansFor the second time in his stint with Indian hockey Oltmans had to double up as a coach and High Performance Director in an important event after Australian Walsh quit from his post recently following the breakdown of his contractual talks with Hockey India and Sports Authority of India But the legendary Dutchman was unfazed by the challenge at hand and said he prefers to look forward than ponder about the pastI have done that before as well in the 2013 Asia Cup Its not the most good thing but at this moment we have to look forward and ensure we prepare the team as good as we can for the Champions Trophy Its an important tournament where 8 best teams of the world will be competing said Oltmans about his immediate task at handThe morale of the team is good because we clearly know there are distractions in every process But at this moment we only want to look forward We are just looking at the Champions Trophy and trying to make sure that we are prepared as good as possible he told reporters after the teams training session at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here yesterdayThe boys are training hard they are eager to learn they are open for suggestions I know there are high expectations so we have to play accordingly The boys are really keen to once again produce a fantastic performance in 2014 he added Oltmans refused to predict about Indias final result in the Champions Trophy but said for him what is important is performanceI never talk about the outcome because its not in our hands What in our hands is the performance level I only know is that we need to prepare ourselves to give a good performance he said Oltmans also refused to discuss about the possible successor of Walsh saying right now all his energies are focussed on the Champions Trophy to be held in Bhubaneswar from December 614At this moment that is not something that keeps me busy Right now I need all my energy to focus on the job at hand and ensure the team performs well in the Champions Trophy That is my priority right now to be honest But straight after Champions Trophy that new coach selection will be my concern I guess that is part of the job of a High Performance DirectorAsked whether Gurjinder Singhs inclusion in the team will create a problem of plenty for him in the drafglicking department Oltmans said Absolutely not Gurjinder deserves a spot in the team We can see in his test results how he has improved in the last one year Thats really fantastic For us its only positive that we now have three dragflickersChandi has groin injury so we had to chose between a couple of forwards like Mandeep Yuvraj and Lalit and in the end Lalit got the nod because of his performance in the Australia tour I am not concerned about finishing because I know all of these boys can finish Sunil is is in very good shape at the moment Nikkin can score goals we all know Akashdeep can score goals Lalit can score goalsIn the Australia tour we scored more field goals than penalty corners he said India captain Sardar Singh said even though the Australian has quit they are trying to follow Walshs schedule and hopes to finish the year on a good note This is a major event after the World Cup This year has been pretty good for Indian hockey and we will try our best to keep the good work going and finish the year on a high he saidThere will be pressure but we will also get home support Talking about Walsh Sardar said He was a good coach but whatever his issues are only Hockey India and SAI can decide But we are following the same training schedule Oltmans and other coaches have been there with us for the last one year and we did not make much changes in our scheduleIndian goalkeeper and vicecaptain PR Sreejesh said the they wont let Walshs resignation episode effect the performance of the team in the Champions Trophy What happens outside the field doesnt affect the team that much But it definitely becomes a little difficult when a coach who has been there for a year quits before an important tournamentBut all the players know the importance of the Champions Trophy Our focus would be maintain our consistency he said Going by our performances in the this year I think we have more positives to take into the tournament and we will be hoping for a top four finish in the CT