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ATHENS, Aug 24: Pakistan hockey coach, Roelant Oltmans has ruled out the possibility of resigning from the job after failing to motivate the side to medal podium of the Athens Olympics hockey tournament.
"I have no plans to quit. I have a contract with the Pakistan team till the end of this year which I will complete," he said on Tuesday. He said he has gone through a number of pressure cooker situations in hockey and knows how to tackle them and to find a remedy.
"Our elimination from the medal run does not mean that I should step down, it's not my style, I want to find a solution why it happened and what measures are required to stop such presentation by Pakistan team in a particular match," he said.
Oltmans said it was disappointing not to qualify for the semifinals of the Olympics, which was the first target of the team. "As a coach I am under a bigger responsibility of accepting team's good and bad performances and I own it but it does not mean that I should terminate my job and I do not feel it the right way and a right approach," he maintained.
When asked since taking over the job with the Pakistan team he vowed on occasions that his side would win a medal in Olympics, he said, he was very confident of team's winning a medal but the things went the other way round after defeat to Spain and spoiled its qualification chances.
"I know it's very upsetting to end a tournament without getting a medal but we have no choice now and we have to concentrate on next two classification games to stand at a better place rather than further going down," he said.
Oltmans said the Champions Trophy is another important tournament, which his side would be playing in December at their own backyard and as soon as the Olympics are over we should start preparing for it.
"Gone are the days when one or two teams were ruling the entire hockey scene now more and more countries are coming up and they have impressed with their performances in the Olympics and when worlds top 12 teams are playing it is always hard to see your dreams coming true.
Champions Trophy is another tough tournament because world's six top sides are in it." Meanwhile, Pakistan and India clash in a face saving contest for securing a place between fifth to eight on Wednesday. -APP
FINAL LEAGUE STANDINGS
(Tabulated under played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):
Group A
Spain 5 3 2 0 14 3 11
Germany 5 3 2 0 15 6 11
Pakistan 5 3 0 2 19 8 9
South Korea 5 2 2 1 17 8 8
Britain 5 1 0 4 9 21 3
Egypt 5 0 0 5 2 30 0
Group B
Netherlands 5 5 0 0 16 9 15
Australia 5 3 1 1 14 10 10
New Zealand 5 3 0 2 13 11 9
India 5 1 1 3 11 13 4
South Africa 5 1 0 4 9 15 3
Argentina 5 0 2 3 8 13 2
