Chennai :

Arjun Halappa did not think twice before taking up the national selector’s job offered by Hockey India secretary Narinder Batra in June.

The former India midfielder thought his association with Air India, who he continues to play for, and his previous experience with the national team will help him judge the players’ performances better . Picking the squad for the Asia Cup was Halappa’s first assignment as part of the nine-member selection panel.

According to Halappa, the Indian players shouldn’t get carried away with the recent success as world-class teams like Germany, Australia, Korea, Holland, New Zealand and England await them in next year’s World Cup.

“I was surprised at the euphoria after India qualified for the London Olympics. It shows that the common people didn’t expect India, who ruled hockey for decades , to make it to the Games. We have to improve our standard. I know we don’t have infrastructure like Holland or Germany but we can do well if we utilize the existing facilities. We need to channelize talent properly,” he said.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Sports> Hockey> Air India / by Krishna Kanta Chakraborty, TNN / September 19th, 2013