India women's hockey coach Sjoerd Marijne leaves on a high
The Dutch coach announced his departure after the last game at Tokyo 2020
Sjoerd Marijne has quit as the head coach of the Indian Women's hockey team after guiding them to a historic fourth-place finish at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
"It was my last match with the team," he stated during a press conference after India's Olympic campaign came to an end with a 4-3 loss against Great Britain.
The Dutch coach took charge of the team for the first time in 2017. The Hockey India officials were so impressed with his work that he was asked to take charge of the men's team. However, he returned back to the women's hockey team after the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
In the Olympic qualifiers, India women's hockey team beat USA 5-1 in the first game. However, in the next match, they went down 4-1 and just about managed to make the cut for Olympics.
During the Coronavirus pandemic, Marijne stayed back in India and resumed the practice sessions as soon as they were permitted to train. In January 2021, the team flew to Argentina where they drew two matches and lost on four occasions.
In February, they set sail for Germany for another exposure trip as part of their preparations where the team lost all matches. However, they gained vital experience which helped them immensely.
At the Olympics, they had a dream run where they beat world no.3 Australia 1-0 in the quarterfinals. However, in the semi-final and in the bronze medal play-off, they lost to Argentina and Great Britain respectively to finish fourth, which is their best performance ever at the Olympics.