According to various sources, Dutch field hockey coach Roelant Oltmans is a strong contender for the coaching job of Pakistan men’s national hockey team once again ahead of the Azlan Shah Hockey Cup in Malaysia.
Roelant Oltmans previously managed the Pakistan Hockey team from 2003 to 2004 and returned for a second stint in 2018 and has been part of the setup since then in some capacity.
He managed Malaysia for two years from 2018 to 2020 and then went on to manage a Dutch club SV Kampong where he worked till 2022. Despite his coaching role in the Dutch club, Oltmans was always connected with the Pakistan side. Last year in November he continued his coaching role with the Pakistan Junior Hockey Team.
The training camp for the national team ahead of the Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament is expected to start on April 15 in the sports complex, in Islamabad.
An announcement of probable players for the training camp will be made soon after which the training camp will begin shortly so that the national team can prepare for the upcoming tournament in Malaysia next month.
Six teams will participate in the Azlan Shah Hockey Cup including hosts Malaysia, Pakistan, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea.
It is an invitational tournament that is played annually and historically ever since it began in 1983 Pakistan has clinched the gold medal in the tournament three times.
President of Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Tariq Bugti addressed the need for a foreign coach in modern-day hockey and said that a foreign coach is the need of the hour so that the national team can move along with the modern era of hockey.
He emphasized that in the modern era, Hockey has changed and only foreign coaches can enhance the national team’s performance.
The PHF president vowed that his target is to make Pakistan a formidable team that is among the top six rankings in the world and he wants to achieve that goal in the next two years.
Bugti pledged to improve the national team stating that the Pakistan team will participate in all events and the future extensive camps will be held he will discuss issues about the sport of hockey in the country with the Prime Minister after Eid.
On the matter of player’s dues and clearance of wages, the PHF president said that the federation is already indebted with Rs. 80 million but the payment of their dues will be settled in the coming weeks.
PHF president met the captains of Pakistan men’s senior and junior hockey teams in Lahore and assured them that their dues would be cleared and urged them to put past their grievances.
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