Indian women's hockey team have reached another level since my time, says former coach Neil Hawgood

Rio 2016 was a forgettable experience for the Indian women's hockey team. Having qualified for the event after 36 years, what followed was a nightmare. The team finished at the bottom of the points table and returned home to harsh criticism.

However, much has changed since then. The women's team have qualified for a second consecutive Olympic Games, for the first time in their history.

Read: Explained: Why Indian hockey teams will have 18 Olympians in a squad of 16 for Tokyo Olympics 2020

The team members are physically fitter, mentally stronger and strategically superior than they have ever been, and this bodes well in the leadup to the Tokyo Olympics 2020 .

Former chief coach Neil Hawgood has analyzed the current Indian team and acknowledged their rise in stature. Speaking on the Hockey India podcast ‘Hockey Te Charcha’, Hawgood said:

"Sjoerd [Marijne] has done an amazing job in elevating the team’s level. The current team is mentally tougher than previous years. Earlier, if the team conceded an early goal, then it created a worrying situation which could lead to a heavy defeat. In a similar situation now, the team is calm and confident knowing that they can come back into any game. I am delighted to see that the team has kicked on and reached another level since my time.”

Neil Hawgood had two separate stints as India coach between 2012 and 2016. It was under his tutelage that India qualified for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

After Hawgood took over, he felt the need for a long-term process of change. While the infrastructure was in place, Hawgood was entrusted with the task of building a team for the future.

“When I was first appointed, I felt everything was in place in terms of structure to build upon. Our intention from the start was to build a team for the future. We never felt the need for an overhaul, but my team and I implemented minor changes,” the Australian said.

Indian women’s hockey team started changing for the better

Hawgood worked on improving the mentality of players and methods of training.

“I suppose the biggest change we made was in the way the team trains. Lots of players at the time would train through injuries to avoid losing their place in the team. Instead, we placed emphasis on rehab and taking time to heal so players could train at the highest level and not worry about being left out of the team because of injury. Our biggest success wasn’t changing the hockey; it was changing the training methods,” Hawgood said.

Although the coronavirus pandemic has thrown everything out of gear, Hawgood feels India could benefit from the lack of competitive match play in the run up to the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

“It’s going to be tough on the teams from the southern hemisphere like Australia, India and Argentina because they haven’t played much hockey recently. The European teams have all been playing regular test games amongst each other. So they have that match practice. On the other hand, they will have the surprise factor in their favor since no one will know what tactics these teams have been up to. Anything is possible in the first two games and any team can come out with a win,” Hawgood concluded.