New Delhi, Following an impressive outing against Argentina, Indian women’s hockey team chief coach Sjoerd Marijne wants his players to maintain discipline to produce consistent performance in the upcoming tournaments.
The Indian team drew 2-2 against world no. 2 Argentina in a four-match series. After losing the first two games, India staged a strong comeback, winning the final two matches to level the series.
India will next tour Australia for a four-match series from May 21 to June 3 as part of its preparations for next month’s FIH Nation’s Cup in New Zealand, which is a pathway to the elite FIH Pro League.
The Nations Cup is scheduled to be held from June 15 to 21 in Auckland. India will play all the four matches against Australia at the Perth Hockey Stadium. India need to win the tournament to regain entry into the Pro League after being relegated last year.
Marijne, who guided India to a historic fourth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics, took charge of the side for a second term earlier this year, and said fitness was his biggest criteria.
“When I took charge in January my first step was to get off a lot of injuries. We had almost 14 and then the qualification for the World Cup was important, so there was no time for development, no time for managing the load and after that we had a really good tour to Argentina.
“Argentina is No. 2 in the world and we could get to know the benchmark of world hockey,” the Dutchman said in an online interaction organised by Sports Authority of India on Friday.
“The benchmark was very important from there on we had more time to work on the fitness in the camp. And now we will head to Australia where we will have practice matches there and see them play a different style than Argentina.
“In the last two matches in Argentina tour we played really well, where we won and played a draw and that’s where I saw the behaviour I always wanted to see. The main thing which I want to achieve in Australia tour and the Nations Cup is to continue the good habits, continuity in behaviour.
“If we get more consistency in our game, our level goes much higher and higher.”
Marijne said all these tours and tournaments are crucial to India’s preparations for this year’s two big-ticket events the World Cup and the Asian Games.
“We will not only play matches, we also have training there and from there on we move to the Nations Cup. All these tournaments, all these matches must lead to be a good preparation for the Asian Games,” he said.
He said injuries continued to haunt his side as two players are out for an indefinite period.
“Unfortunately two players are out with ACL Sangita and Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke but the rest of the players are fit. Vaishnavi had her operation a few days back and that’s similar with Sangeeta. Normally for an ACL injury it takes nine months to a year to recover,” he said.
He also stressed on discipline and team culture to prosper at the world stage.
“The game awareness is also important. I like discipline that’s one of the most important thing for me. We also need to focus on the team culture.”
India captain Salima Tete too said discipline is first and foremost in achieving success at the world stage.
“The girls are really working hard in terms of fitness, everyone knows the importance of fitness. If we are fit we can beat any team.
“Discipline can beat any team. Australia tour will be a very good preparation for us and we will give our best,” she said.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
