Harendra, Marijne swap places in Hockey reshuffle
Hockey India has done it again. It has decided to swap coaches of both national men and women teams, reiterating its trust in a "desi" coach for the men's team training for the Odisha World Cup later this year.
Harendra Singh will be the Chief Coach for the Indian men's team, as he takes over from 44-year-old Dutchman Sjoerd Marijne, who returns to his job as the Chief Coach of Indian women's team.
The change, ordered on Tuesday, means that Hockey India has reverted to "desi" coach for the national men's team after experimenting with two Dutch coaches - Roeland Oltmans and Sjoerd Marijne. Before bringing Dutch coaches to India, Hockey India had tried Australians, including Terry Walsh, besides German and Spanish coaches also.
Roeland Oltmans has now taken up assignment with the Pakistan Hockey Federation. He was the coach of the Pakistan team that went to Gold Coast Commonwealth Games where it’s all four pool games ended drawn games.
Harendra Singh, who led the Indian Junior men's team to the Uttar Pradesh Hockey Junior World Cup Lucknow 2016 title, was appointed as the Chief Coach of the Indian women's team in September 2017. Under his supervision, the team finished fourth, same as men team did, at the recently concluded Gold Coast 2018 XXI Commonwealth Games.
His most important contribution was leading the women's team to the 9th Women's Asia Cup title in Japan last year. Similarly, Sjoerd Marijne was the coach of the Indian team that won Asia Cup for men at Dhaka last year.
Sjoerd Marijne on the other hand had formed a formidable unit with the Indian Women’s Hockey team during his first stint. Under the Dutchman, the Women’s team had an impressive run qualifying for the Hockey World League Semi-Final.
Before joining the Indian Women’s team, Marijne had a successful tenure with the Netherlands' Women’s team. His first event with the Indian Women's team will be the 5th Women’s Asian Champions Trophy in Korea starting on May 13, 2018.
“Harendra Singh brings with himself wealth of experience and has previously managed a lot of the Men's team players during his stints in the Hockey India League and with the junior teams. While, Marijne's first stint with the Women's team was a very successful one and we are sure he will continue to do well with this team as he has done in the past,” said Mohd Mushtaque Ahmed, Secretary General, Hockey India.
Both Sjoerd Marine and Harendra Singh expressed their satisfaction on the new roles assigned to them. “I am excited to reunite with the women’s team and will look to focus building on the good form exhibited by the team in last six months as we look forward to the Vitality Women's Hockey World Cup 2018,” said Marijne.
Harendra said, “It is an honour for me to now manage the Indian Men’s Hockey team. It has been a very satisfying journey with the Indian Women’s Hockey team and I would like to thank Hockey India for entrusting me with the new role as we prepare ourselves for a very important season ahead.”
-PTC News
