The hunt for a national hockey team chief coach is still on and the race for the coveted position is becoming interesting day by day as K K Poonacha, former India international and junior team coach, has become the fourth Indian to enter the fray. According to sources in the Oman Hockey Association (OHA), Poonacha applied for the post on September 7.
Poonacha joins V Baskaran, Prem Shankar Shukla and Pradeep Xalxo in the competition, the winner of which is likely to be finalised before the end of the year. The delay in the appointment of the coach is due to the current financial crisis being faced by OHA, which is hoping the sports ministry will bail it out.
Poonacha, 41, had represented the country in the 1994 Sydney World Cup, in which India finished fifth. He has loads of experience both as a player and as a hockey guru. Having served in the Indian Army for 18 years, his resume boasts of his being an excellent communicator, disciplinarian and a proven team player, qualities that certainly make him one of the top contenders for the job.
Hailing from Coorg in Karnataka, Poonacha started his international career in 1994 against Australia in a test series and played his first World Cup the same year. He was part of the Indian team that won gold at the Indo-Pan American Friendship Gold Cup, at which he was adjudged the tournament’s best player in 1995.
Poonacha was part of the team that won silver in the Pre-Olympics Championship in Atlanta and also participated in the Champion's Trophy in Berlin. The ace leftback hung up his stick after the Indo-German Test series in 1998.
With hockey being an integral part of his life, Poonacha ensured that nothing kept him away from the game and took up coaching after acquiring a diploma from the National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala.
He began his coaching stint with the ASC team in 1997 and continued till 2001. He was named coach of the Indian junior team for the Indo-France Test series held in Hyderabad in 2004. His coaching career graph touched another high in 2005 when he led Hyderabad Sultans to the inaugural Indian Premier Hockey League title. He also coached Services and Karnataka teams and took over as coach for Air India in 2006, where he is still at the helm.
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