On Monday, Harendra Singh, the Indian women’s hockey team head coach, announced his removal from the role, citing personal reasons. The news was confirmed via Hockey India.
Harendra’s statement read, “Coaching the Indian women’s hockey team has been a privilege that has been a highlight of my career. Though personal reasons call me to step away, my heart remains with this extraordinary team and their ongoing success.”
Last year in February, Harendra took the position after replacing two-time Olympic medalist Janneke Schopman of the Netherlands after her resignation. The decision came into effect after the Indian women’s hockey team’s disqualification from the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Under his coaching, the Indian team won the Asian Women’s Champions Trophy of the 2024 edition.
Besides this, he is also a former coach of the USA men’s hockey team. He has previously coached India’s junior men’s team, which won the 2016 World Cup in Lucknow.
The Indian women’s team performed poorly at the FIH Pro League 2024-25. They won two of the 16 matches and finished in ninth position in the rankings. The loss confirmed their relegation in next year’s FIH Nations Cup.
Despite the loss, the Indian women’s team will try to take back their spot in the FIH Pro League through the Nations Cup scheduled for next year.
A shocking revelation of head coach misconduct
However, some sources have confirmed that the reason for Harendra’s exit came into effect after complaints against his behavior had been made to the ministry by the players of the team. Their failure in recent tournaments was another major reason for his removal.
According to a report released by The Indian Express, senior players of the team who were part of events like the Paris Olympics Qualifiers and Asian Games are hesitant to further play for the national team under Harendra’s coaching. The complaint was reportedly done some days ago.
This was, however, a second complaint made by the team, following which the investigation was done by Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey and secretary-general Bhola Nath Singh and held at the Sports Authority of India centre in Bengaluru.
As per the investigation, sources revealed, “After speaking to the players, Hockey India officials realised that at least half of the team did not want to continue playing under Harendra because of various reasons, ranging from how he handled the team to the rising number of injuries and the poor performances. Hence, it was decided to part ways with him before the situation deteriorated further.”
