Ipoh (Malaysia): Indian hockey team were dealt a severe blow ahead of their opening Asia Cup group league encounter against minnows Oman after skipper Sardar Singh was declared unfit as he is recovering from viral fever.
Sardar, who was hospitalised for running temperature along with throat infection, was discharged on Thursday and even trained with the other members of the team on Friday but India’s interim coach Roelant Oltmans is in no mood to take any risk ahead of crucial upcoming encounters.
“Sardar is well now. He was discharged yesterday, but he won’t play (against Oman) tomorrow. His fitness is not of the required level. If I let him play tomorrow, he may fall sick again,” Oltmans, who is also the High Performance Director of Hockey India, told PTI.
The ignominy of missing out on a World Cup berth looming large over its head, an under-pressure Indian men’s hockey team would be hoping to open its campaign in the ninth Asia Cup with a morale-boosting win over Oman.
Well aware that it is their last chance to qualify for 2014 FIH World Cup, the Indians cannot afford to let their guards down at any moment as nothing short of a victory in the continental championship can book their ticket to next year’s quadrennial event in The Hague, Netherlands. For India and neighbours Pakistan, the Asia Cup is a do-or-die tournament. (PTI)
