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Coaches survive as India, Pak reserve their best for last
Pakistan came from behind to defeat New Zealand 4-2 and take fifth spot, while India blasted Asian champions South Korea 5-2 to finish seventh.
Former champions India and Pakistan ended the Olympic men's field hockey with impressive wins on Friday, giving a new lease of life to their respective foreign coaches.
Pakistan came from behind to defeat New Zealand 4-2 and take fifth spot in the 12-nation competition, while arch-rivals India blasted Asian Games champions South Korea 5-2 to finish seventh.
The win helped India retain the same position they took at Sydney four years ago and ensured their new German coach Gerhard Rach will survive at least till the end of the year.
Indian hockey chief KPS Gill said Rach, who took over barely three weeks before the Olympics, will coach the team in the eight-match series against Pakistan starting in the end of September.
"Rach is not going anywhere," said Gill, who sacked Cedric D'Souza as coach midway through the 2002 World Cup in Malaysia and ousted Rach's predecessor Rajinder Singh last month.
Rach was picked as India's first foreign coach after the eight-time Olympic champions tried 14 coaches in the last 10 years in a desperate bid to regain former glory.
