Graham Reid – The Newly Appointed Coach for Indian Men’s National Hockey Team

With the Sports Authority of India finally clearing the decks for the appointment of Australian Graham Reid as Indian men's hockey team's chief coach the four-month wait finally ends. India have been without a chief coach since the sacking of Harendra Singh following the World Cup in December last year.
In fact, the Indian team probables regrouped in Bengaluru for the camp on Monday, under High Performance coach David John and analytical coach Chris Ciriello.

The appointment of Reid, 54, an understudy to famed coach Ric Charlesworth, will be until December 2020 during which time India will have to first qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Games. Reid's first big assignment will be India's tour of Australia next month which will be followed by the FIH Men's Series Final in Bhubaneswar in June.

The appointment of Reid, 54, an understudy to famed coach Ric Charlesworth, will be until December 2020 during which time India will have to first qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Games. Reid's first big assignment will be India's tour of Australia next month which will be followed by the FIH Men's Series Final in Bhubaneswar in June.

Reid, who was a part of the Australian team which finished with silver at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, assisted Charlesworth for about six years before being handed over the reins after Charlesworth stepped down after coaching the team to the 2014 World Cup victory.

Under Reid, Australia won the 2014 Commonwealth Games, 2015 World League and 2016 Champions Trophy. But he decided to move on after the Kookaburras failed to garner a top-four finish at the 2016 Rio Olympics. He was assistant coach of the Netherlands team which finished runner-up at the World Cup last year. The Queenslander, who is expected to arrive in the country later this week, said, "It's an honour and a privilege to be appointed as chief coach of the Indian men's hockey team. Acknowledging the history of Indian hockey, he says that no other country can be compared to India when it comes to this sport. As an opposition coach I have enjoyed watching first hand, the steady rise of the Indian team to one of the most exciting and threatening teams in world hockey. Concluding the conversation Reid admits that he is passionate about the style of fast and attacking brand of hockey that India plays and it’s quite similar with the Australian style.

By: Preeti Narula

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