Sjoerd Marijne returned to the Indian women’s hockey team as chief coach, five years after leading them to a historic fourth-placed finish at the Tokyo Olympics. Marijne replaced Harendra Singh, who resigned in December last year due to poor results.
Marijne’s last stint with the team was from 2017 to 2021, and he will be supported by Matias Vila as analytical coach. Meanwhile, South African Wayne Lombard also returns to the side, as scientific advisor and athletic performance head.
Taking to X, Marijne also announced his return to fans. He tweeted, “It’s great to be back. After 4.5 years, I return with fresh energy and a clear vision to support the team’s growth and help the players achieve their full potential on the world stage.”
Changed hope to expectation
Marijne is credited with changing the belief of the women’s hockey team in India. He changed hope to expectation, which led to them putting in better performances. Before him, India would employ a defensive approach, but after his arrival, it began to attack first, even if it meant defeat. Also, conceding an early goal didn’t lead to panic.
He also focused on fitness and physical conditioning, which was key to his tactical shift to high press and compact defence.
Turnaround in fortunes for Indian women’s hockey team
In his first stint as chief coach of the Indian women’s hockey team, Marijne led the side to the World League semi-finals in 2017 and silver medals at the 2018 Women’s Asian Champions Trophy and Jakarta Asian Games.
In 2019, India qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, beating USA 6-5 on aggregate in the FIH Olympic Qualifiers.
Tokyo Olympics
Arguably, Marijne’s biggest success came at the Tokyo Olympics. India was ranked eighth in the world at the beginning of the hockey tournament in Tokyo, but managed to silence doubters. They began their campaign with a poor showing, losing successively to the Netherlands (1-5), Germany (0-2) and Great Britain (1-4) in the group stage.
Then they defeated Ireland (1-0) and South Africa (403) to reach the quarterfinals. Then in the quarters, they surprised everyone, beating third-ranked Australia (1-0) to reach the semis for the first time in history.
In the semis, India lost to second-ranked Argentina (1-2) and had to fight for bronze. In the third-place playoff match, India lost to Great Britain (3-4) in a thriller, settling for fourth spot. After India’s loss to Great Britain, Marijne quit his role as chief coach, citing personal reasons.
