Roelant Oltmans to take over as coach of Indian men's hockey team

Roelant Oltmans

Hockey India (HI) President Narinder Batra has confirmed that Dutchman Paul van Ass has been sacked, according to IBN Live. He has also confirmed that High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans has agreed to take over the coaching role.

Days after Van Ass claiming he has been sacked and Batra refuting the suggestions, IBN Live reports that HI President has confirmed the news saying, “Paul van Ass had his personal problems. He is not a good coach.”

The 54-year-old had alleged that Batra broke the sanctity of the pitch by storming in after India’s narrow win against Malaysia at the recently concluded Hockey World League semis in Belgium. However, Dr. Batra has refuted the claims, but refused to give any clarifications.

CNN-IBN reported him as saying, “Van Ass was beating around the bushes. He is away and putting allegations. We can't give clarifications to all his allegations.”

He also said that he was not happy with India’s performance at the HWL semis and called Van Ass “incompetent as a coach, but a great motivator”.

Confirming the news of Oltmans’ appointment, he said, “Oltmans has agreed to be the coach of Indian men's team.”

Recently, former captain Dhanraj Pillay was linked with the job, while former coach Michael Nobbs’ name was also thrown about. Batra clarified why Australian Michael Nobbs departed the national team earlier and confirmed that there are no hard feelings between the two parties. “Nobbs had health issues, we are still in touch with him,” he revealed.

Oltmans’ immediate task would be to prepare the team for the European tour, which starts on 31st July. The Indian team will play 5 matches – 2 against France and 3 vs Spain before returning back on 14th August.