Interview: India will be strong contenders for 2016 Olympics, says Roelant Oltmans

Roelant Oltmans (L) talks to Gerhard Rach (R) as Indian team players (background) warm up during a practice session

A hard-fought defeat often brings more joy to a coach rather than a listless loss. For Indian men’s hockey team’s acting head coach Roelant Oltmans, the 9th Asia Cup was one of satisfaction and contentment as the national team turned in a vastly improved showing from their inconsistent ways in the Hockey World League Round 3 event in Rotterdam.

“Everybody can see the improvement in this Indian side. I don’t want to overemphasize that. The boys showed great team effort throughout the tournament and it reflected in our performance. They showed superb attitude, executed the game plans to a nicety, but of course, losing to Korea in the final was disappointing,” Oltmans told Sportskeeda in an exclusive interview.

The Blueshirts now await the Oceania Cup in October, where a win for Australia or New Zealand will confirm India’s 2014 World Cup berth. “We will have to wait for an official FIH confirmation until October although we are almost there,” he said.

India’s defence has often got a lot of flak for its sloppiness, but the way the backline performed in Ipoh pleased Oltmans. “Defence is not about having defenders – it’s about having a structure in place. Many a times people say a team lost the game due to the defender’s fault which is a wrong approach. Defending involves proper understanding between the midfielders and the strikers – for example a quick counter-attack from an opposition can happen from a midfielder or a striker’s lapse and lead to a goal with the defender at his mercy,” he explains.

The celebrated Dutch coach appeared chuffed with the improved penalty corner conversion. “I think we had about fifty percent conversion rate, which is a decent improvement. Both Rupinder and Raghunath fared well with their drag-flicks – to be honest I don’t care who scores as long as somebody scores for the team. Amit Rohidas is also a talented youngster and has to improve his short corner hits to come anywhere close to Rupinder or Raghunath,” he puts forth his views.

Fielding a young side for the 9th Asia Cup was a big gamble as the 2014 World Cup spot was at stake, but Oltmans is happy to see the positives in that. “Look, we were an injury-ravaged side going into the Asia Cup. Chandi, Sunil, Danish and Akashdeep were out but the youngsters really lived up to the occasion, which puts us in a win-win situation. There is huge competition for places in the side which bodes well for Indian hockey. Nikkin and Ramandeep made their senior international debuts and contributed significantly to the team’s cause,” he eulogies his boys.

Oltmans, who coached the Uttar Pradesh Wizards during the inaugural Hockey India League, believes it won’t be long before India matches the world’s best. “We can take Belgium’s example – they are a rapidly improving side and are beating sides like Germany, Australia and the Netherlands regularly. We are behind them but by not so much – I reckon we will take another couple of years before we can start beating the world’s top sides – we will be one of the strong contenders for the 2016 Rio Olympics if not the 2014 World Cup,” he exudes optimism.

Given the manner in which Oltman has shaped up India’s fortunes in the Asia Cup, will he like to take up the head coach role on a permanent basis? “Well, I’m still the High Performance Manager of Hockey India and as far as the head coach role is concerned I carried out my duties for the Asia Cup as an acting coach only,” he chooses his words carefully.

How about the sight of India thrashing Netherlands by a big margin with Oltmans as India coach? The Dutchman offered a straight bat, giving a rather bromide “no comment” answer.