Indian hockey chief coach Terry Walsh, who was in talks with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) to get a new improved contract, said that the meeting between him and the nodal agency did not yield the desired results, thereby ending his tenure with the national team.
Tuesday marked the last day of Walsh’s tenure as the coach of the senior team. But the Australian expressed optimism that SAI will revert to him by the weekend agreeing to certain terms and conditions, according to media reports.
“Demands were not met this time but I hope to return to Indian hockey,” Walsh, who guided the Indian team to an Asian Games gold medal after 16 years in the 2014 Incheon Games, said here.
After resigning Oct 21, Walsh was serving a one-month notice period which concluded Tuesday.
SAI had appointed a six-member committee to study the proposals of Walsh, which had a marathon six-hour meeting Monday to decided on his terms and conditions. The committee also met Tuesday to deliberate further on his demands.
The committee comprising former Indian hockey players Ajit Pal Singh, Ashok Kumar, Zafar Iqbal, India’s High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans, SAI Executive Director (Teams) Sudhir Setia and Hockey India (HI) CEO Elena Norman, had long discussions with the 60-year-old hockey professional. But no agreement came out of the extended talks, as of Tuesday.