Hockey
Graham Reid resigns as Indian Men's Hockey Coach
Graham Reid has resigned from his position as the head coach of Indian hockey team just two days after the team's disastrous home World Cup campaign came to an end.
Graham Reid
The head coach of the Indian men's hockey team Graham Reid has resigned from his position just two days after the team's disastrous home World Cup campaign came to an end.
The team's analytical coach Greg Clark and scientific advisor Mitchell Pemberton too have stepped down alongside Reid. All three of them will serve their notice period over the next month.
An Australian by nationality, Graham Ried has been the coach of the Indian men's hockey team since 2019. He had guided the team to a historic bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Under Ried, India also won a silver at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth and also finished third in the FIH Pro League 2021-22 season.
"It is now time for me to step aside and handover the reigns to the next management. It has been an honour and privilege to work with the team and Hockey India and I have enjoyed every moment of this epic journey. I wish the team all the very best," Reid said in a statement.
Hockey India President Dilip Tirkey said that it was time for the men in blue to move towards a different approach.
"India will always have gratitude towards Graham Reid and his team of support staff who have brought good results to the country, particularly the Olympic Games. As all journeys move to different phases, it is now time for us to move on towards a new approach for our team," Tirkey said.
India had finished ninth in the recently concluded 2023 Men's Hockey World Cup in Odisha. It was the worst-ever finish for a host nation in the tournament's 15-edition long history.
India failed to earn a direct qualification to the quarterfinal due to an inferior goal difference at the end of the group stage and then lost to a lower-ranked New Zealand in the crossovers on penalty shoot-out to miss out on the quarterfinal berth completely.
Graham Reid's actual contract was supposed to run until the 2024 Paris Olympics. The coach, however, had indicated that he might be on his way out in the middle of the World Cup.
"I have signed the contract through Paris (Olympics). But, you know, we will be reviewing, I assume, at the end of this World Cup," Reid had said after India defeated Japan 8-0 in the 9th-16th place classification contest.
