Additional responsibility given to Sardar

KARACHI: Pakistan Hockey Federation’s (PHF) efforts to convince Roelant Oltmans to take back his resignation failed and Hasan Sardar, the manager, was given the additional responsibility to act as head coach, sources said on Sunday.

The sources said that PHF wanted Oltmans to continue till World Cup 2018, but he excused himself.

They said Oltmans did not see any hope of improvement in the current team. He did a lot of work with Pakistan team to improve their skills but they could not improve as he had desired. It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan team’s training camp for Asian Champions Trophy starts from Monday (today).

The Asian Champions Trophy will be held in Oman from October 18-28. Assistant coaches Rehan Butt and Muhammad Saqlain would continue in their positions, the sources said. The PHF mentioned that the trio of coaches have been directed that they should follow the training and coaching plan of Oltmans.

Pakistan failed to win any major title under the supervision of Oltmans although he brought about some improvement. The players’ fitness level has improved. Pakistan defeated Olympic champions Argentina, European champions Belgium and gave tough time to world champions Australia and some other sides during Commonwealth Games and Champions Trophy.

Before Oltmans started, Pakistan had been facing defeats against lowly teams and the goal margin of defeats was high against strong teams. It was learnt that PHF would think later about the replacement of Oltmans because there is not much time before Asian Champions Trophy. Besides, PHF is facing shortage of funds and is not able to hire a foreign coach. PHF confirmed that the training camp in Lahore would continue till the departure of the Green-shirts for Oman.