‘India could field same women’s squad for WC, Asian Games’

The Indian women’s hockey team is likely to field the same core group of players for both the upcoming World Cup and the Asian Games, with the two marquee events scheduled barely 20 days apart, chief coach Sjoerd Marijne indicated on Wednesday. The World Cup, both men and women, will be hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands from August 15 to 30, while Asian Games, which is a qualifier for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, is scheduled to be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4.

While there are speculations that India might field two different men’s teams for the events, Marijne said he is taking the World Cup to prepare his side for the more important Asian Games.

“We have thought about this process. We have experience from 2018, it was the same. So what I see is one tournament is going to help the other one. The Asian Games is the most important for us as it is a direct qualifier for the Olympics,” Marijne told PTI. 

“But the World Cup in 2018 also gave us a boost in confidence and that’s the same way we are going to approach it now. The approach will be to focus on the World Cup and the learning from the World Cup, we take to the Asian Games and there is nothing better than playing matches under pressure at the World Cup and use that knowledge in the Asian Games.

“In World Cup we will have 20 players and in the Asian Games we will have 18 as only 18 are allowed,” he added.  Dutch legend Taeke Taekema, a dragflick specialist who has worked with the Indian women’s team on assignment basis, will be with the side in the World Cup and the Asian Games, said Marijne.

Taekema has been roped in by Hockey India to work with the Indian women’s team till the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“Yes, he (Taekema) will be in both tournaments. Taekema is a specialist coach and we are very happy that we can have him in both World Cup and the Asian Games.  “He has experience of working with the Chinese team. He is bigger than just a specialist coach for me, he is doing the PC attacking, PC defending and also guiding the defenders,” Marijne said.

Taekekma is a silver medallist at the Athens 2024 Olympics with the Netherlands, and has netted 170 goals in 94 appearances during his career.

Meanwhile, Indian women’s team skipper Salima Tete lavished praised on Deepika, who returned to the side with a bang after recovering from a grade 3 hamstring tear sustained last year.

She netted six goals throughout the FIH Nations Cup campaign, sharing the highest goal scorer honour with USA’s Ashley Sessa. “Deepika showed her performance after returning from injury. Deepika is a crucial player for us and very good dragflicker. We do believe that if we create a PC just a minute before the end of the game, Deepika will score. “We supported her a lot after her return from injury. She has a very good skills and speed and we will continue to support her,” Salima said.