Hockey India reiterated its support for current head coach Roelant Oltmans by stating that they want the Dutchman to continue in his current position till Olympics 2020 in Tokyo. Oltmans' current contract expires in January 2017.
HI president, Narinder Batra stated that he has had talks with Oltmans about a contract extension and that a proposal from the board has been sent to Sports Authority of India for approval, "We want Oltmans to stay with us as chief coach till the Tokyo Games. This decision comes after discussions with Oltmans. He has agreed to it and we have sent our proposal to SAI for approval," Batra was quoted as saying in an ESPN report.
Oltmans, who boasts of a World Cup and an Olympic gold medal on his CV, started his association with the Indian Hockey team as the High Performance Director in 2013, and was made the chief coach in August last year. The 54-year-old, on his part has also given his consent for a longer tenure, "Of course, I want to continue in my current position of chief coach no doubt. Yes, it's [contract talks] under process, I have another two-and-a-half months or so before my contract expires. There's a lot of potential in this team and the results will have to improve. We have won a couple of medals over the last year and need to get more consistent," Oltmans said.
A vote of approval also came from skipper PR Sreejesh, hailing Oltmans' coaching style and his know-how of the Indian squad, "We have been training under him for past three years, he knows each of our particular strengths and we are comfortable with his style of functioning. We would be happy though to accept whatever decision is finally taken in this regard since our job is to go out and play irrespective of who's the coach."
Since taking over coaching duties, the 8-time Olympic gold medal winners have finished with a bronze medal at the World League final, and have also recorded their best-ever finish in the Champions Trophy, winning silver.