KARACHI: The reputed Int­er­national Hockey Federation (FIH) Master Coach Roelant Oltmans has said that the Pakistani players are eager to listen and practice the finer points of the game and to bring the country back among the top nations of the game.

“After taking up the present assignment a couple of days back, I’ve found an electrifying spark among the players who are adamant to revive the glorious past of Pakistan hockey,” he told Dawn on Wednesday.

The 63-year-old Dutch coach, who is here on his second stint – March 1, 2018 to Sept 1, 2020 – said though he has sight set on the team reaching the podium in the Asian Games and the World Cup, it would be no less a miracle if the team clicks well in the Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast, Australia next month.

“We’ve to accept the ground realities that Pakistan is presently 13th in the world rankings and I have no magical spoon to feed them any winning formula overnight that could win them laurels,” he said while referring to Commonwealth Games.

Oltmans said Pakistan players were brilliant individually but lacked impact as a team. “I’m working to improve their fitness level, skills, mental sharpness and other grey areas,” he said.

Recalling his previous assignment with the Pakistan hockey team which was from Dec 1, 2003 to Jan 1, 2005, Oltmans said the greenshirts finished fifth at the Athens Olympics and secured a bronze in the 2004 Champions Trophy at Lahore. “Then the standard of hockey was good in Pakistan,” he recalled.

The Dutch expert disclosed that he was in coaching profession for almost four decades and a master coach since 1994. Besides Pakistan, he has an impressive list of successful results as a coach for Holland and India during his illustrious career.

It was under his coaching that Holland men’s team won the gold medals at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Champions Trophies in 1996 at Chennai, 1998 at Lahore and 2006 at Terrassa, the 1990 Women’s World Cup at Utrecht besides the European Championship (men’s) in 2007 and other honours.

As regards India, Oltmans served as High Performance Director from Jan 2013 to 2015 and was made Chief Coach from 2015 to Sept 2017. He guided hosts India to lift the men’s junior World Cup, second time in history, at Lucknow.

Before taking up major assignments in his career, Oltmans said he had coached a number of clubs at home that excelled in domestic competitions. “I’d played hockey but could not make it to the Dutch national team as there were many good players then,” he said in response to a question.

He replied in “affirmative” when asked was he satisfied with the team selection for the Commonwealth Games. “I was consulted by the PHF secretary, chief selector and team manager and gave my input,” he said.

Asked what weaknesses he observed in the Pakistan team at Muscat where he had gone to discuss matters related to his assignment with the PHF officials, Oltmans said he noticed that the greenshirts played in bits and pieces instead of maintaining tempo.

Citing example of their match against Oman he said Pakistan built up 3-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the match “but to my utter surprise squandered it and ended in a four-all stalemate.”

Terming 2018 as an important year for hockey, he rated the Asian Games and World Cup as most important assignments and described next month’s Commonwealth Games as part of learning process.

He bluntly said “no” when asked if he had any reservations before coming to Pakistan. “I’m very comfortable here and have many fond memories of the last visit including kite flying and making friends,” he said.

Oltmans expressed optimism that the people of Pakistan will be happy that he has joined their national team again and working to steer it to the top of the ladder again in global competitions in the days to come.

The Dutch expert said hockey has changed drastically from the 1976 Montreal Olympics when the FIH introduced astro turf.

“I hope that when I complete my present assignment, possibly on a winning note, the game in Pakistan have been revived and the youngsters, specially in the under-18 and under-21 age categories, will carry forward the legacy,” he concluded.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2018