India''s shock failure to qualify for the Olympics
may have raised a hue and cry in the country but a combative IHF chief K P S Gill says the debacle has thrown a "real challenge" at him and he would leave the post only after the team regained lost ground.
Unrattled by persistent demands for his resignation, Gill said he would not run away at this stage and blamed the poor umpiring and the nature of the qualification process for the debacle.
''Indian hockey will bounce back''
The IHF supremo spoke at length on a variety of topics ranging from his anguish to see India''s current hockey plight and his strategy to revive the game during the interview to the Press Trust of India.
On the Olympics qualifiers debacle: It is no doubt a setback. A challenge has been thrown at my face and I accept the challenge. I want to prove to the world that it is not because of the lack of talent or capability. I want to Indian hockey on top again.
The qualification process put immense pressure on the team. It was a matter of how the team played on a particular day. One bad day can afflict any team, that day (final match against Great Britain) we played 10 per cent of our potential.
It is an excellent team, that they lost is a different matter. We cannot put all the blame on the players. I do not foresee any drastic changes in the team
Published: March 13, 2008
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