Bengaluru, 23 November 2019: Back in the Sports Authority of India, Bengaluru for National Coaching Camp, it is business as usual for the Indian Women’s Hockey Team albeit with greater focus now on a podium finish at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Following a review meeting earlier this week, the team will bank on their ‘fearless attitude’ as they approach the next seven-eight months of preparations for the quadrennial extravaganza.
“The review meeting earlier this week was not all about ‘well done, congratulations’ but it was more about how we almost threw away the second match. I expressed my anger without mincing any words. The way we played the first two quarters in the second match against USA in the Olympic Qualifiers was something we never want to repeat again,” stated Sjoerd Marijne, as he recalled the exchange of views about the team’s performance against USA during the review meeting involving players and support staff.
“A major take away from that match was the team’s ability to fight back. That is the quality I really like about this team. They will never give up and they have on several occasions shown that burning desire to win and to play at home against a strong team calls for a lot of nerves,” he added.
In the coming months the team have a rigorous regime starting with a tour of New Zealand in January 2020. “We have chartered out our plans for the next seven months and we have a clear vision of what we need to improve on and the level we seek to achieve ahead of the Olympics. While we play some very good teams in the lead up to the Olympics where we look forward to achieving consistent performance, it is very important to keep the players’ minds and legs fresh. We have decided to be based out of SAI, Bengaluru all along because this feels like home for us and every minute aspect such as the environment we train in, and support system we have here plays a major factor in our preparations,” Marijne explained.
Please find attached photos of the Indian Women’s Hockey Team.
