First real challenge for new India coach Marijne
LUCKNOW: Though Sjoerd Marijne has spent just over two months as the chief coach of the Indian men’s hockey team, he has been able to bring the best out of his wards, already inspiring them to the Asia Cup title.
Marijne replaced Roelant Oltmans in September after the Dutchman was sacked for openly blaming the boys for their poor finish at the Hockey World League semi-finals in June.
IRKED HOCKEY INDIA
Unlike Oltmans, whose comments that the boys didn’t try hard for a win irked Hockey India, Marijne has avoided criticism and focused only on the positive qualities of his boys.
“Instead of letting the boys feel that they were already in the (Hockey World League) final (thereby making them complacent), he (Oltmans) should have encouraged them to press hard. By our high standards, a sixth place finish wasn’t acceptable,” a Hockey India official explained sacking Oltmans. What upset Hockey India most were the losses to Canada and Malaysia.
Marijne, on his part, hasn’t made any major change to the team or to the strategy.
“I didn’t make any serious changes in players’ style or technique. I just told them about their strengths and the way to make full use of them,” Marijne said.
The results have begun to show. In October, the same team regained the Asia Cup after 10 years, beating Malaysia 2-1 in the final. India had last won the tournament back in 2007.
The win at continental level seems to have transformed the Manpreet Singh-led side which can now think of putting in a strong performance at the Hockey World League Final.
The Bhubaneshwar event, in fact, will be the first real test for Marijne. The selection committee had at the time of sacking Oltmans clearly said that wins at Asia level can’t be a benchmark for success.
The message should be clear for Marijne too.With a series of big events lined up for next year -- the Olympic qualifying round, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and World Cup, India should look at this Hockey World League Final as a big opportunity to check their strengths and weaknesses.