‘They Can Match the Best’: Sjoerd Marijne Backs India Women’s Hockey Team

India women’s hockey coach Sjoerd Marijne believes his team’s historic World Cup campaign has given the players something more valuable than encouragement from the sidelines, the belief that they can compete with the world’s best.

India enter the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026 after finishing fifth at the FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup, their best result since the inaugural edition in 1974. The campaign included a 3-1 victory over world No. 5 Germany in the classification match, while India also held higher-ranked China, England and Australia to draws.

Marijne, who returned to the Indian women’s programme earlier this year and was formally appointed chief coach in January, said the World Cup experience had shown his players that they belong at the highest level.

“I can tell them many times, ‘Okay, we are a good team, you can do it,’ but they have to experience it themselves,” Marijne told Olympics.com.

India’s progress had already been evident before the World Cup. The team won the FIH Women’s Nations Cup in Auckland, going unbeaten and defeating hosts New Zealand 2-0 in the final. The triumph also earned India promotion to the FIH Pro League for the following season.

The Asian Games now offer an even bigger prize. The women’s hockey gold medallist will secure direct qualification for the LA 2028 Olympics, provided the team has not already qualified through another route. The other leading teams will have opportunities to enter the FIH Olympic Qualification Tournaments.

India are placed in Pool B alongside Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Uzbekistan. They open their campaign against Uzbekistan on September 20, followed by Indonesia on September 21, Thailand on September 23, Japan on September 25 and Singapore on September 27. The knockout stage begins on September 30, with the gold-medal match scheduled for October 2.

Captain Salima Tete leads a 20-member squad that combines experienced players such as Savita, Navneet Kaur, Lalremsiami, Neha and Nikki Pradhan with younger players including Lalthantluangi, Shilpi Dabas and Beauty Dungdung.

For Marijne, however, the focus remains firmly on the next match rather than the prospect of Olympic qualification.

“I’m trying to focus on the here and now and on my task,” he said.

That task begins against Uzbekistan, with India looking to turn their newfound World Cup belief into Asian Games success.