Indian woman stood dejected on the pitch after losing the penalty shootout to Ireland in the quarterfinals of the Women's Hockey World Cup on Thursday.
There were crestfallen shoulders. There were pale faces. There were tears. And then there was one man trying to wipe them all.
Almost every Indian woman stood dejected on the pitch after losing the penalty shootout to Ireland in the quarterfinals of the Women's Hockey World Cup on Thursday. But head coach Sjoerd Marijne was out picking them up, understanding the disappointment of the girls while also making them realise that it wasn't all gloom and doom, after all.
“It was very painful,” Marijne told DNA from London a couple of hours after India's quarterfinal exit. “But that also shows how we believed in winning this match. We played the quarterfinal of a World Cup, and that was a long time ago. The girls wrote history. I told them there will be a day when they will be proud of themselves,” he added.
They have good reason to. Few predicted the 10th-ranked Indian team to have a shot at a semifinal entry. India hadn't played a Women's Hockey World Cup semifinal since the inaugural edition in 1974. The country's last five appearances in the tournament read thus: 12th, Did Not Qualify, 11th, 9th, Did Not Qualify.
The team was bestowed upon a new coach only a couple of months ago, their beloved 'Harendra Sir' taken away from them and given to the men's team. But Marijne had worked with the girls before Harendra, and had formed a structure that was working well.
Marijne pretty much stuck to that structure in the World Cup: play a tight game, defend well. India drew with Olympic champions England 1-1 in their opener and held the seventh-ranked USA 1-1 in a pool game they couldn't afford to lose if they wished to advance.
The team conceded three goals in the five matches. Compare that to the 2016 Rio Olympics, where India gave away 19 goals in five matches, and it tells a tale about how well goalkeeper Savita and her defensive unit performed throughout the tournament.
“We played big teams, and overall, we did really well,” Marijne said. “We only conceded three goals, so we defended very strong. But we didn’t score enough. It’s also because opponents made it (the field) really small for us and we have to learn to deal with that. That is a next step for the team. We will learn from this,” he added.
Converting chances inside the D as well as penalty corners remain the team's bane, aspects they will have to improve upon come the Asian Games this month. But make no mistake, the girls can take plenty of positives, as well as heart, from the World Cup into it.
“This result will help us because the confidence is really high. The defensive structure is good and that will form a good basics for the Asian Games,” Marijne said.
For the Dutchman himself, the result comes as a big tick after his unceremonious ouster from the men's team after a poor Commonwealth Games (CWG) show, though Marijne looks back at that short stint with the boys with positive memories.
“My results with the men were good. We won the Asia Cup, we came third in the FIH World League Finals (both last year). At Sultan Azlan Shah, we went with the our second-string team, so we knew the results will not be a top-four finish (India finished fifth). The CWG was the only disappointment but the focus was not on that tournament. So, I'm happy with this but not for me, for the girls. They can look back on a good run,” he added.
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 "The Indian women's hocket team with coach Sjoerd Marijne after their loss on Thursday")
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