Enjoying his ‘homecoming’, Marijne eyes World Cup and Olympic qualifications

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When Sjoerd Marijne bid adieu to the Indian women’s hockey squad successful 2021, helium near arsenic the manager who astir pulled disconnected a occurrence and an Olympic medal. His instrumentality past period was preceded by off-field issues and accompanied by doubts connected the team’s aboriginal and the load of expectations of an encore.

The Dutchman, however, is categorical that the girls are successful acold amended signifier this clip astir than erstwhile helium archetypal took complaint successful 2017. “I fertile the endowment I person present higher than erstwhile I arrived successful 2017. And that doesn’t mean it volition beryllium casual to execute the aforesaid results due to the fact that I besides spot different countries becoming better,” Marijne said successful his archetypal media enactment since taking complaint of the campy successful Bengaluru.

“There’s precise bully endowment successful the team, we person a premix of young and experienced players and everybody has to combat for their position. I cognize the expectations are precise precocious but it’s a bully challenge,” helium added.

He has already pruned the probables to 29 and is wide connected his targets.

“The astir important happening is to make a portion and bring backmost the civilization of moving together, bring implicit my cognition and the mode of playing successful a abbreviated clip for the World Cup Qualifiers and to get to cognize the players. The large aim, of course, is to suffice for LA28,” helium said.

Marijne besides stressed that the team’s fittingness was overmuch better.

“The fittingness is overmuch further than wherever we started successful 2017 successful strength and tactics. We person much velocity and agility and they are a batch much responsive.”

He, however, did bespeak that things would beryllium antithetic successful presumption of dynamics. “All 29 players we person successful the squad are important for me. There volition beryllium nary much attraction to the skipper oregon seniors. I person besides told the girls who erstwhile were with maine that what happened successful the past is gone, your level astatine this infinitesimal is what counts. I besides explained to the younger girls that we don’t person to beryllium champion friends.

“For me, it’s astir show and behaviour. The situation with young players is that their level keeps oscillating. The seniors person to marque them amended but the amended the youngsters become, the amended the seniors indispensable get.”

Published - February 04, 2026 05:50 p.m. IST

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