Sardar to sit out clash against Oman

 Indian hockey team were dealt a severe blow ahead of their opening Asia Cup group league encounter against minnows Oman after skipper Sardar Singh was declared unfit as he is recovering from viral fever.

Sardar, who was hospitalised for running temperature along with throat infection, was discharged on Thursday and even trained with the other members of the team on Friday but India’s interim coach Roelant Oltmans is in no mood to take any risk ahead of crucial upcoming encounters.

“Sardar is well now. He was discharged yesterday, but he won’t play (against Oman) tomorrow. His fitness is not of the required level. If I let him play tomorrow, he may fall sick again,” Oltmans, who is also the High Performance Director of Hockey India, told PTI after the team’s practice session at the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium.

Sardar, however, is hopeful of spending at least some time in the turf on Saturday to get a feel. “I have recovered now but still there is some weakness. I don’t know what plans the coach has but I will speak to him and see if I can get to play for 10 minutes tomorrow,” Sardar said.

Indians cannot afford to let their guard down at any moment as nothing short of a victory in the continental championship can book their ticket to next year’s FIH World Cup in The Hague, Netherlands. 

Defending champions South Korea recently became the eighth team to qualify for the World Cup after being promoted from first reserves to guaranteed participants.

India are placed in a relatively easy Pool B alongside Korea, Bangladesh and Oman while Pakistan, Japan, Malaysia and Chinese-Taipei complete the Pool A line-up.