India sack hockey coach

NEW DELHI: Hockey India has sacked men’s national team coach Harendra Singh after a dismal showing at the Asian Games and their quarter-final exit as hosts in last month’s World Cup.The much-fancied Indian senior team had to settle for a bronze at the Asiad in Jakarta last year and were dumped out by the Netherlands in the World Cup in December.

Singh blamed poor umpiring in the last-eight 2-1 loss and vented his anger in a post-match news conference but his actions reportedly did not go down well with Indian officials.Hockey India said on Wednesday that the veteran player would now coach the junior team.