Sjoerd Marijne steps down as Indian women’s hockey team coach

Marijne said the bronze medal match against Great Britain in the ongoing Olympics was his last assignment with the side. “It was my last match with the team,” said Marijne during a virtual press meet on Friday.

The 47-year-old coached the Indian women’s hockey team to its best-ever performance in the Tokyo Olympic Games, guiding them to a creditable fourth-place finish.

The Dutch coach had taken charge of the team for the first time in 2017.

“The Hockey India officials were left impressed with his work that he was asked to take charge of the men’s team. However, he returned back to the women’s hockey team after the 2018 Commonwealth Games,” stated the official website of the Olympics.

In the Olympic qualifiers, the Indian women’s hockey team beat the US 5-1 in the first game. However, in the next match, they went down 4-1 and just about managed to make the cut for the Olympics.

It has been learnt that both Marijne and team’s analytical coach Janneka Schopman were offered an extension by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) but the former refused the offer due to personal reasons.

Sources in the know of developments told news agency PTI that Schopman is expected to take over Marine’s position on a full-time basis now. Marijne, a former Dutch player, took over the reins of the Indian women’s team first in 2017 but was appointed the coach of the men’s side later that year.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Marijne stayed back in India and resumed the practice sessions as soon as they were permitted to train. In January 2021, the team flew to Argentina where they drew two matches and lost on four occasions.

In February, they set sail for Germany for another exposure trip as part of their preparations where the team failed to win. However, they gained vital experience which helped them immensely.