BOMBAY: Former Indian hockey captain MS. Somaiya was felicitated by the members of the Bombay press club here,
‘Speaking at the function the Olympian said that the standard of the game in India ‘was not on par with other countries, To regain the past glory the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) should send its young bunch of coaches to foreign countries instead of bringing coaches from other countries.
He also said IHF officials should take up their job full time and serve the game wholeheartedly instead of putting in a couple of hours per day.
‘Asked about the justification for two other Olympians, Aslam Sher Khan and ‘Mohd Shabid, criticizing IHF’s functioning ‘after their retirement he said, whatever the two players had against the federation they should have sorted it out when they were playing for the country and it was unfair on their part to hit out at it after their retirement. He felt that though the conditioning ‘camps before the interactional tournaments were very useful to make players physically fit, the mental aspects a player was overlooked. “Moreover IHF should give more freedom to a player to speak up and come out with his problems. Somaiya was all praise for vertema coach Balakrishan Singh and felt that he “was the best Indian coach. “We need coaches like him at state level itself to improve the game,”
He expressed his disappointment over the Indian team’s inability to win any major international tiles under his captaincy and brushed aside the opinion of some hockey pundits that under his leadership the team did not have dedication and will to win,
“Though India is not on top of the hockey world, it is placed sixth or seventh ‘on the chart which is not really bad, considering that there are now 150 countries which play hockey and the competition is becoming stiff, so if we do not act now and build up our team then it will be never,” he added.
Praising Bombay’s performance in the recent national championship at Gwalior, he said that it was their unconventional style of play that helped them win the title.
He felt that though seven Bombay players had been called for the coaching camp only a couple of them may find places in the final 16.
He said it was high time Bombay got the much needed AstroTurf and felt funds could be missed for this purpose from several business establishments. “I sincerely hope Bombay gets AstroTurf in the near future,” he added.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 15, 1989
