Paul van Ass took charge as chief coach of the Indian men’s hockey team, and the side underwent its first practice session under the Dutchman at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here on Monday.
van Ass officially joined on Sunday, but the 54-year-old took charge of the team only on Monday, supervising a two-hour long practice session of 30 players in preparation for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup to be held in Ipoh, Malaysia from April 5-12.
According to a team official, van Ass was officially introduced to the players during breakfast this morning.
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“It was light-intensity training as it was Paul’s first outing with the players. Today, he was focused on observing all the players and getting a fair idea about their strengths and weaknesses,” the official said.
“In his first training session, Paul’s emphasis was more on the technical aspects of the game. The players also underwent drills on scoring goals.”
Apart from van Ass, coaches Jude Felix and Sandeep Sangwan, and Indian hockey’s High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans were also present during the training session.
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van Ass, known for his outspoken and controversial nature, replaces Australian Terry Walsh under whom India won the Incheon Asian Games to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
van Ass had been handed a contract till the 2018 World Cup by his new employer, the Sports Authority of India.
As a player, van Ass has only limited international experience but as a coach he has led the Netherlands men’s team to an Olympic silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics after taking charge of the Dutch team in 2010. He has also served as the head coach of the Dutch under-21 team.
At the club level, van Ass not just resurrected the fortunes of the Dutch club HC Gazellen-Combinatie, he even took it to the Euro Hockey League final in 2007.