Hockey India on Saturday sacked Roelant Oltmans from his position of head coach of the Indian hockey team after a spate of disappointing performances.

The 63-year-old Oltmans, who was initially appointed as a High Performance manager in 2013, became the head coach after Paul Van Ass  controversially departed in 2015.

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Current High Performance Director David John will reportedly take over as the interim coach.

India’s sub-par performance in the World Hockey League semifinal in London in June was a major red-flag for the administrators.

India had finished sixth in the tournament and while a subsequent tour of Europe saw some encouraging results, the inconsistency in form did not impress the Hockey India bosses and the selection committee took the hard decision after some deliberation.

India’s next major international assignment will be the Asia Cup in Bangladesh from October 11-22.