Paul Van Ass Upbeat About Coaching UP Rudras in the HIL

UP Rudras team have a fairly nice blend of youth and experience and in Dutch coach Paul Van Ass, they have someone who is the best in the business – a soul who has crafted several success stories with the Netherlands men and women teams (guiding the Dutch men to a silver-medal finish at the 2012 London Olympics and guiding the Dutch women to glory at the 2024 Paris Olympics).

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The Rudras would be hoping that the Dutchman would be able to replicate the same degree of success for the Lucknow franchise. “We have been able to put in place a solid unit for the Hockey India League. I’m thankful to Cedric D’Souza for doing all the hard work behind the scenes and getting this team together. I must also make a mention of Bappa who knows the Indian young players very well,” says Van Ass in an exclusive chat with Hockey Passion.

The 64-year-old Dutch coach shares his perspectives on the player auctions. “Franchises operated smartly than the inaugural HIL by starting with the Indian Olympians and spending a lot of money on the Indian Olympians which is fair because they all deserve it. As far as UP Rudras are concerned, we are happy to rope in Hardik Singh, who is one of the world’s top midfielders. He is a big role model for the emerging Indian players and it is always better to have a local hero than having a stalwart from overseas. Remember, the likes of Mandeep Singh, and many others were born out of the inaugural HIL,” he says.

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The Rudras have a stout deep defence with the likes of Netherlands’ Lars Balk, New Zealand’s Kane Russell, and Spain’s Marc Recasens in their ranks. The midfield would be manned by celebrated Indian player Hardik Singh, Netherland’s Floris Wortelboer, and Great Britain’s James Albery. The forwardline also wears a potent look with the likes of Great Britain’s Sam Ward, Belgium’s Tanguy Cosyns who would be expected to forge a handy combination with the Indian ace trio of Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Akashdeep Singh, and Simranjeet Singh along with emerging guys like Gurjot Singh, Sudeep Chirmako among others.

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Prod him on any specific player he would have liked to have amidst their mix, Van Ass was candid on the same. “Look everything is not in your control in auctions. I would have loved to have Manpreet Singh but he was went away early for Rs 42 lakhs as his name came up early. Even guys like Thierry Brinkman, and Alexander Hendrickxx could have gone for more but their names popped up late on the second day, and by then most of the franchises had exhausted a large portion of their budget. That’s how it goes,” he quips.

UP Rudras on their part, would be hoping for a blockbuster run in the revived 6th Hockey India League under Paul Van Ass.