Daily Times

KARACHI: Pakistan hockey team manager Hasan Sardar has resigned from his post following the national squad’s dismal performance in the recently concluded Hockey World Cup in India. Pakistan were kicked out of the tournament by a dominant Belgium after a 5-0 thrashing in the cross-over match. Earlier, Pakistan lost 1-0 to Germany, drew 1-1 against Malaysia and then faced a 5-1 humiliation at the hands of the Netherlands in their Pool D.

Goal difference helped Pakistan enter pre-quarter-finals, where they failed miserably. Sardar, however, was all praiseful of Pakistan team, saying the national team’s overall performance was not that bad. “We could’ve scored on a lot of occasions, but we missed those chances. I will soon submit my report which will comprise of suggestions to improve the state of hockey in Pakistan,” he said Tuesday. Earlier, Tauqir Dar resigned from the head coach role citing Pakistan’s poor performance at the World Cup.
Sardar advised the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to appoint foreign coach in order to raise a capable national side for the future. “As my commitment with the PHF was till the World Cup, I have resigned from the post while suggesting the national federation to hire foreign coach for national team if they want to raise a strong outfit for future,” Sardar added.

He further suggested some changes, which included “replacing some old players with new ones”. Sardar was also of the opinion that both Pakistan senior and junior teams needed foreign coaches to become better.

Sardar reckoned Roelant Oltmans, the ex-Pakistan head coach, had made a very useful contribution in raising the team but ironically, the Dutchman left the job just a couple of months before the World Cup and the Australian trainer also followed the suit. “No doubt Oltmans had brought remarkable improvement in the Pakistan team’s performance and fitness level. However, they could not carry on their assignment with the PHF and that had put a negative impact on our preparations for the World Cup,” Sardar regretted. “I still believe that a foreign coach is necessary for Pakistan because modern-day hockey entails higher-level coaching which is unfortunately currently not available in the country.” When asked whether he was satisfied with his tenure at the PHF, Sardar said, “No one can be satisfied as even the No.2 of the World Cup Netherlands will also not be satisfied and only Belgium can be.”

Published in Daily Times, December 19^th2018.