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The Indian women's hockey team, seeded sixth as per the FIH, were widely expected to qualify for the 2024 Olympics by finishing amongst the top three sides at the recently concluded Olympic Hockey Qualifiers.
Instead, India who made history by finishing fourth at Tokyo 2021, failed to earn a spot at the upcoming Paris Games following a disappointing show in front of a passionate home crowd.
During an exclusive interaction with Sportskeeda, Sjoerd Marijne who spent four-and-a-half years with the Indian women's hockey team, dwelt at length on the reasons behind the Ranchi debacle.
The Dutchman was quick to point out the team's lack of consistency before deliberating on India's struggle with penalty corners in the absence of key drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur.
"No consistency in four quarters throughout the tournament" - Sjoerd Marijne
The Indian women's hockey team suffered a 0-1 loss against the USA in their opening game of the qualifiers before beating New Zealand 3-1. Following a 5-1 win over Italy, the Indians made it to the semifinals before losing to Germany in sudden death.
A shock 0-1 defeat to Japan in the bronze-medal match ended India's hopes of qualifying for the Olympic Games. Sjoerd Marijne did not hesitate to call out the team's glaring lack of consistency throughout the tournament.
"The level went a little up and down. In the first match, against the USA, the quality was not that high and they struggled with the pitch. There was not a lot of rhythm in the game, a lot of technical errors," he explained.
"In the next match (against New Zealand) they were a little better. Throughout the tournament, there was no consistency throughout the four quarters, mainly on the technical front. Other teams struggled with the pitch as well but kept improving as the tournament progressed," Marijne said.
Sjoerd Marijne, under whose tutelage the Indian women's hockey team recorded admirable performances at the 2018 Women's World Cup and the 2021 Olympics, followed the Ranchi qualifiers closely.
He admitted that while the vision of the team is still the same, the change in personnel has necessitated changes in the manner in which the team plays.
Deep Grace Ekka and Gurjit Kaur are two of the stalwarts who battled for the Indians in Tokyo but were not picked for the Olympic Qualifiers.
"The playing style depends on the quality and the kind of players you have. Five or six players who were part of the Tokyo Olympics did not play the qualifiers. So, one needs to then do things differently," said the coach who worked with the Netherlands women's team in the past.
As far, as the vision is concerned, it is much the same as it was during my time," Marijne stated.
"Conversion of PCs not good enough" - Marijne zeroes in on primary deficiency in Indian women's hockey team
Gurjit Kaur, whose vital PC goals have proved invaluable for the Indians in the past, was not in the team for the Olympic Qualifiers or the Asian Games last year.
The Indians, who earned 9 penalty corners against Japan, failed to convert any. Sjoerd Marijne stressed that the penalty corner conundrum needs to be sorted on priority.
"I can't decide if Gurjit Kaur had to be there, yes or no, because I am not in the process and I do not know the reason. Reality, however, shows that the conversion of the PCs is not good enough and that is where a big step has to be taken," he said.
"In these kinds of matches, PCs make a difference. At the Olympics, we earned one PC against Australia in the quarterfinals and we scored from that one sole PC. If we hadn't scored from that short corner, maybe we would not have progressed in the tournament," the 49-year-old coach stated.
Notably, Marijne also elaborated that scoring from open play in women's hockey is a difficult task thus making penalty corner conversion all the more vital.
"PCs are such an important part of the game," said Marijne who had arranged for Gurjit Kaur to train with famed Dutch coach Toon Siepman. "Especially in women's hockey, scoring field goals is not easy despite making circle entries."
"Time to evaluate and be constructive" - Marijne on the road ahead for Indian women's hockey
The Savita Punia-led side who were the second-ranked team in the Olympic Qualifiers (behind Germany) should have qualified for the Olympics according to Sjoerd Marijne.
"All the signals were green - the superior ranking and the home advantage. Those were the right ingredients for the Indians to win the tournament," he stated.
Despite the gloom amongst the hockey fraternity following the failure of the team to make it to Paris 2024, Sjoerd Marijne reasoned that the Indians have a chance to benefit from the fiasco.
Pointing to the Belgians who won their Olympic Qualifiers at Valencia after missing out on the Tokyo Olympics, Marijne stated the Indian women's hockey team has a chance to be ahead of other Paris-bound nations by adopting corrective measures.
"I think we have to use the Belgian model. They did not qualify four years ago. When all the other teams were busy with the Olympics, they used the time to evaluate and be constructive," Marijne stated.
"That is the most important lesson that they (India) must take out of this, and then they can be a step ahead of the other teams who are playing at the Olympics," he added.
On whether he would be available to coach the Indian women's hockey team again if approached, Sjoerd Marijne replied in the negative.
"I have spent four-and-a-half years away from my family to coach the Indian women's hockey team. It may not be possible for me to do the same again. At least, in the role of a Chief Coach it would not," Marijne said.
