Indian men's and women's hockey team gets new support staff for Asian Games

With Asian Games around the corner, Hockey Indian has announced new support staff for the Indian men's and women's hockey team on Friday.

Rhett Halkett and Alan Tan will join as the analytical coach and scientific advisor of the Indian Men's Hockey team.

Earlier last month, Craig Fulton was appointed the head coach of Indian Men's Hockey team.

Rhett, a former South African international, amassed 155 international caps between 2010 and 2018. In 2020, Rhett went on to join the Netherlands Women's Hockey Team as the Assistant Coach. In his one-year tenure, he was part of the support staff during the FIH Women's Pro League 2020-21, European Championships and Tokyo Olympics. In 2022 Rhett took over the role of Assistant Coach for the Scotland Men's Hockey Team and also led Scotland U-21 Men's Hockey Team as the Head Coach.

On the other hand, Alan Tan comes with over 10.5 years of experience working as the Strength and Conditioning Coach at the NSW Institute of Sport from January 2011 and September 2021. He also went on to take over the role of National Development Squad Program Manager at Wheelchair Rugby Australia from August 2021 to March 2023.

Alan worked as a Laboratory tutor and unit assessor marker for Bachelor Exercise and Sport Science at the University of Technology Sydney from September 2021 to March 2023, before taking over as Senior Strength and Conditioning Coach for Tennis Australia at the Sydney Training Centre from November 2022 to March 2023.

Hockey India also announced that former Japan Women's Hockey Team Head Coach Anthony Farry will fill in the position of Analytical Coach of the Indian Women's Hockey Team.

Meanwhile, Anthony Farry taking on the role of Analytical Coach is backed by a three-year stint as the Assistant Coach for Hockey ACT and Hockey Australia between December 2008 and 2011. He came into the limelight during his tenure as Canada Men's Hockey Team Head Coach and High-Performance Director between August 2011 and February 2017, with Canada successfully qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games through the World League qualification system, for the first time in history.

Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey thanked SAI for quick appointment which will boost the Asian Games preparations of both teams.

"On behalf of Hockey India, I thank Sports Authority of India for processing their appointments on an immediate basis and appreciate their continued support in preparing the Indian teams for the upcoming Asian Games in China in 2023. I wish Rhett Halkett, Alan Tan and Anthony Farry the very best in their new roles," said Dilip Tirkey.

Indian men's and women's hockey team will be in action at upcoming Asian Games which will act as the qualifiers for 2024 Paris Olympics.