Marijne wants the Indian players to be more precise with finishing

Having already secured a spot at this year’s FIH Women’s World Cup ahead of the clash with Wales, India produced its most fluid and attacking display of the ongoing Qualifiers at the G.M.C. Balayogi Hockey Ground here on Wednesday. The host built on it with a convincing 4-1 victory, sparking celebrations in front of a healthy turnout of fans who shared in the team’s joy.

Head coach Sjoerd Marijne, though pleased with the result, urged the ‘Bharat ki Sherniyan’ to be more clinical.

“Am I happy? Yes and no. I told the girls that when you’re winning, everything looks perfect, but that was not the case. The only thing I could blame them (against Wales) is that we didn’t score more goals. I’m happy that we created opportunities but we really have to be more careful and precise with the ball,” he told reporters.

“But that’s my job, to demand more and more. We want the benchmark to be higher and higher. If you see the attacks we had, how fast it went, that’s the way we want to play.”

Marijne reserved special praise for Navneet Kaur, who struck a hat-trick, but was quick to emphasise that the performance was a collective effort.

“She’s an absolute top player in the world and she’s in her prime. She also takes a leadership role, which is very important. We’re very happy with her performance but, also, someone has to give the ball to her and that is also very important.”

Navneet admitted the extra spark in her performance against Wales stemmed from a desire to make amends following India’s draw with Scotland. She also echoed her coach’s view that the team could’ve made better use of its chances.

“It was a nice match but we could’ve scored more, especially field goals. We got a lot of chances.”

Reflecting on the current squad compared to the one he coached during his first stint, Marijne credited the groundwork laid by Erik Wonink for making his task easier.

“Erik, who was involved for a long time in the junior programme, has eight of his girls in the squad now. They have benefitted from the way they’ve been educated”.