WHEN Sjoerd Marijne walked into the familiar environs at the Sports Authority of India campus in Bengaluru for a third stint as coach of the women's hockey team, he was mildly concerned. He had observed a fractured unit, a side so far removed from the one that had captivated the hockey-loving public during their fever-dream ride to a fourth-place finish at the Olympics in Tokyo.
There were fitness issues, and players were punching below their weight. Of course, it was understandable because all of them had had a very challenging year under the previous regime when Harendra Singh was coach.
It's why one of the first things he focused on was re-establishing trust and connecting with the players at a human level. Practising penalty corners could wait. The reverse tomahawk was put on hold. It was time to bond to allow a gash wound to heal. He also brought back scientific advisor Wayne Lombard, a South African who had previously been part of the camp. In hindsight, it was one among a series of smart moves because there was already a lot of goodwill between Lombard and the players. In fact, it was Lombard who first told them the importance of tracking menstrual cycles.
Fitness levels improved, and trust was rebuilt. And results have followed. A title at the Nations Cup (promotion to Pro League next year) as well as advancing to the World Cup via a qualifying event at home in March.
It's in this backdrop that the women's team have travelled to Belgium and the Netherlands for their ninth World Cup. Their previous best was a fourth-place finish in the inaugural edition in 1974. They will need to have the tournament of tournaments to emulate that. Even otherwise, what exactly would constitute a good tournament for the women's team? Considering there's one prohibitive favourite — the Netherlands — and an established second rung led by Argentina, Australia and Germany, the expectation is that they won't make it to the medal rounds.
In fact, there's an argument to be made that the Asian Games next month carry greater importance. Winners there receive direct entry to the Olympics, and India are clearly the second-best side on the continent. You can also say that a global event like this arrives a bit too early for this team's development cycle.
That, however, doesn't mean the World No. 9 are going to Europe to make up the numbers. Even if they fail to get out of the group stages — China (opener on Sunday) and England are clearly superior teams in their own Pool — there's a chance for this young team to experience an occasion like this. Sure, skipper Salima Tete can call on a lot of experience (four players have over 200 caps), but eight members of this team are 23 or under. Viewed via that context alone, this is Marijne attempting to build a team for future challenges.
As an example, in Tokyo, Dutchman Marijne could call on Rani Rampal, Deep Grace Ekka, Vandana Katariya and Gurjit Kaur. In Belgium and the Netherlands, only Savita Punia remains among the OG leadership group. However, youthful exuberance can be a powerful tonic. While the skipper herself is young at 24, the 22-year-old Deepika Sehrawat is the team's key attacking outlet, especially from penalty corners. The Dutchman made it a point to focus on penalty corner offence, and the 23-year-old is the side's crown jewel from deadballs. At the Nations Cup, for example, 13 of the 16 goals they scored came from PCs. Out of those 13, Sehrawat scored six of them.
It was part of the reason why she was a non-playing staff member at the World Cup qualifier in March. Even though she was injured and was ruled out, Marijne wanted her to be part of the set-up and spend time talking with her colleagues on an everyday basis. When he spoke to this daily last month, the 52-year-old had said: "Focus on ourselves. Defend our structure, stay effective with penalty corners and how to be better. If we don't do those things, it doesn't matter who we face."
Ever since the Dutchman has come in, he has repeated the importance of needing to ‘focus on ourselves’. It certainly feels like if they can focus on their strengths first and foremost — use their youthful energy in midfield before converting penalty corners — they do have an upset in them.
Pull back the curtains a bit, though, and that in itself will tell you how far the women’s team have progressed in a short span of time under the new regime.