Sandeep Singh is Back and Roaring
Posted by amarpreet41 on May 23rd, 2008
Having emerged as the highest scorer at the Sultan Azlan
Shah hockey tournament in Malaysia, comeback man Sandeep Singh on
Wednesday lashed out at the previous hockey management for not
utilising his skills in Olympic qualifiers which resulted in the
team’s failure to book a berth for Beijing.
“If I could have played in the qualifying rounds for the Beijing
Olympics, the result could have changed. India would have booked the
Olympics berth,” Sandeep said.
“The management didn’t realise my value. They didn’t utilise my
talent also,” he said. The Indian hockey team recently failed to
qualify for the Olympic Games for the first time in 80 years in
Santiago, Chile.
Despite being slammed by the experts, former coach Joaquim Carvalho
had dropped Sandeep claiming that he was injured. The player’s name
was not even considered for the national pre-Olympic squad. “They
didn’t know how to utilise a player for the team. That’s why the team
failed to perform well. India is known for hockey all over the world.
I really feel bad to see India missing the upcoming Beijing Games,” he said.
Sandeep scored nine goals during India’s silver medal winning run in
the tournament, beating four teams on the trot, before going down
narrowly to Argentina in the final.
Speaking on his return to the national side after one year, Sandeep
said: “I had something to prove to myself in Malaysia and also wanted
to evaluate myself. I was looking to return to the national side in a
fantastic way, just like this. “I wanted to convey my message to
everybody that Sandeep Singh is back again,” said a confident Sandeep.
He also praised teammates Diwakar Ram and goalkeeper Adrian D’Souza,
besides others for playing a commendable role in the team’s spirited
show in the Azlan Shah tournament.
“Diwakar played an important role while Adrian foiled several
attacks. It’s good job done.” Sandeep said.