Pakistan performance improving gradually: Oltmans

KARACHI: Pakistan hockey team head coach Roelant Oltmans is satisfied with the performance of the Green-shirts in the recently concluded Champion Trophy in the Netherlands.

Talking to ‘The News’ at Dr Shah-Islahuddin hockey academy, he claimed that players were gradually improving. He said no one could become a champion overnight. The Green-shirts are training for Asian Games, scheduled to be held in August and September in Indonesia.

Oltmans said that he took over the charge of training and coaching of the Green-shirts two months ago. Before that Pakistan had been struggling, even against such teams as Oman, who held them to a 4-4 draw at a recent event. And they had lost against Australia by 9-1.

Pakistan had improved so much in the two months that they defeated Olympic champions and World No 2 Argentina by 4-1 and played well against Australia, Belgium and Holland, said Oltmans and added that the team’s performance in Commonwealth Games had also been satisfactory.

He said that he had aimed at winning the gold medal in Asian Games. Asian Games would be a tough tournament and India, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea would be tough opponents, Oltmans said.

The head coach said they were trying to overcome the weaknesses that had been observed in Holland. He said hockey is a team game and every one would have to play his role.

He said that physical fitness of the players was improving and their hockey skills were also getting better. He said the team played well throughout some matches, but in some games, they played well in one or two quarters.