No comments, says angry Pillay

New Delhi:

An angry Dhanraj Pillay today said he did not want to comment on his controversial omission from a hockey tournament in Japan as well as a fitness camp, which virtually dashed his hopes of playing in his fourth Olympics on the trot. "I don't want to talk about it. Whatever you have to ask you must ask the Indian Hockey Federation," Pillay said over phone from Mumbai. At a press conference in New Delhi earlier in the day, IHF announced an 18-member team for a four-nation tournament in Japan and another 12 players for a fitness camp in Barog, Himachal Pradesh. The 35-year-old forward, who has maintained that he was fit, found himself out of this pool of 30 players from which the team for Olympics would be picked. "I know what happened there (in the press conference). I don't want to comment on it," said the Khel Ratna awardee who ran out of favour with IHF after his open spat with coach Rajinder Singh following India's maiden Asia Cup triumph in Kuala Lumpur in September last year. IHF President KPS Gill evaded a direct reply when asked about chances of Pillay making it to the Olympic squad but said "we can only take 16 players to Olympics. So we have to ensure that one who has the potential to play the entire duration of 70 minutes of tough games under extreme pressure are selected". Pillay has always said that winning an Olympic medal is his most cherished dream. (PTI)