Fresh off a historic fifth-place finish at the 2026 World Cup, Indian women's hockey head coach Sjoerd Marijne insists the team is a top contender for gold at the upcoming Asian Games.
Following a historic fifth-place finish at the 2026 women’s FIH Hockey World Cup last month, the Indian team is turning its attention to the Asian Games, where a gold medal offers direct qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
World No. 4 China poses the biggest hurdle for India, which sits four places below its neighbor in the rankings. However, India will fancy its chances against hosts Japan (World No. 11) and Korea (World No. 17).
Reflecting on recent performances during a media interaction organized by the Sports Authority of India, head coach Sjoerd Marijne highlighted India's resilience. "We drew against China at the World Cup, but we could have won. Both teams had good opportunities, so a draw was a good outcome for both. We played Japan in the Nations Cup (India won 2-1). Korea is the only country we haven’t played for a while," Marijne said.
The Dutchman expressed comfort with the high expectations surrounding the national squad. "Everybody expects gold; we are a very good competitor for the gold. But before the gold, there are some other matches we need to win," Marijne explained, emphasizing that the team remains inward-looking: "The main thing is to focus on ourselves. We are 90% about ourselves and 10% about the opponent."
Addressing scrutiny regarding penalty corners and field goals, Marijne noted that big matches are naturally close contests across international hockey. "We scored some penalty corners, but that is something we can improve… You want to score more field chances. But if we score a lot of field chances, then people question why we don’t score more penalty corners," Marijne said. "But which country scores many goals in big matches? There aren’t any. They are all close contests."
Reporting sourced from The Hindu Hockey. Photo courtesy The Hindu Hockey.