NEW DELHI: Renowned Australian coach Anthony Farry has been appointed as the analytical coach of the Indian women’s hockey team while South African Rhett Halkett will perform the same role with the men’s team, Hockey India announced on Friday.
The national federation also announced other support staff members for both the teams.
Farry, under whose supervision Canada men’s team qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics and who also helped Japan women win their maiden Asian Games gold medal in 2018, will assist head coach Janneke Schopman in his new role.
Farry also helped Canada U-21 men’s team qualify for two consecutive editions of the Junior World Cups and was the head coach and High Performance Director of USA women’s side from August 2020 to April 2022.
Besides Farry and Halkett, Hockey India also announced Australian Alan Tan’s appointment as scientific advisor to the national men’s team.
Both Halkett and Tan will be a part of the coaching set up of the men’s team led by newly-appointed chief coach Craig Fulton of South Africa.
Rhett earned 155 international caps between 2010 and 2018 for South Africa. In 2020, he was assistant coach of the Netherlands women’s side before moving to Scotland, where he coached both the senior as well as the U-21 outfits.
Tan, meanwhile, comes with over 10 years of experience working as the strength and conditioning coach at the New South Wales Institute of Sport.
“We welcome the new coaching staff for the Indian men and women teams. On behalf of Hockey India, I thank Sports Authority of India for processing their appointments on an immediate basis and appreciate their continued support in preparing the Indian teams for the upcoming Asian Games in China in 2023,” HI president Dilip Tirkey said.