Poor fitness level of the women’s hockey team and players hiding injuries were the main reason why India could not make it to the Beijing Olympics from the qualifying tournament at Kazan in Russia, chief coach M K Kaushik said on Tuesday.

“I was given an unfit team for the prestigious event like Olympic qualifiers. More than half of the players were suffering from injuries. Fitness level of the team let us down,” Kaushik said in an interview to PTI after returning from the tournament.

The India team lost four out of the six matches it played in Kazan and eventually finished fourth in the six-nation event.

The government-approved observer, Dr Rupa Saini, had mentioned in her report 15 days before the team’s departure that 11 of the 18 selected players were not fully fit.

Kaushik said that the report was true and several star players, including forward Saba Anjum and captain Mamta Kharab, were injured.

“They were off colour throughout the tournament which affected our performance severely. You better ask the doctor, physio or the players themselves who hid their injuries,” said Kaushik.

He said the team for Kazan was already selected before he joined the camp and there was nothing he could do.

‘Unfit players’
“When I got the list, the names of unfit players were included in that. I had no option but to manage with the players given to me,” Kaushik said.

“I thought that these are minor injuries which are part and parcel of the game. But we came to know about their seriousness in Kazan only.”

He cited the example of Saba Anjum who left the practice camp for 15 days to appear in her exams and got ill after joining the camp. She was not even present during the trials.

“In fact, Saba was injured. She got an injury in her finger and was in pain during the tournament. I don’t know what prompted her to hide her injury. I have talked to IWHF secretary and team manager Amrit Bose about this.”

The coach said he will file a report on the team’s performance to Indian Women’s Hockey Federation within a week. Contrary to some reports, the extremely cold weather in Kazan did not affect the Indian performance, he said.

“Only on the first day of practice, we had to experience the cold. During the tournament, the weather was pleasant and this can not be an excuse for our flop show,” opined Kaushik.