The Indian women’s hockey chief coach Sjoerd Marijne on Friday said that the bronze medal match against Great Britain at the Tokyo Olympics was his last assignment with the side.
The 47-year-old coached India to its best ever performance in the Olympic Games, guiding them to a historic fourth place finish.
The Indian women’s hockey team’s came close to winning their first Olympic medal before losing to Great Britain 3-4 in a narrow bronze play-off match. Hours after this, Marijne announced that it was his last assignment with the Indian team.
“I don’t have any plans because this was my last match with Indian women. It’s upto Janneka (Schopman) now,” the Dutchman told the Indian media in a virtual press conference.
“I will miss the girls but I miss my family more. My family is No 1. I want to be with my son, daughter and wife after being away for three and a half years. This is a beautiful way to end this journey,” he said.
PTI reported that both Marijne and team’s analytical coach Janneka Schopman were offered an extension by the Sports Authority of India but the former refused the offer due to personal reasons.
Sources quoted by PTI said that Schopman is expected to take over Marijne’s position on a full-time basis now.
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Marijne, a former Dutch player, took over the reins of the Indian women’s team first in 2017 but was appointed the coach of the men’s side later that year.
However, in 2018, he was re-designated the women’s coach in a rejigging of roles.
Marijne has played for Netherlands, and guided the Dutch Under-21 women’s side to a World Cup title and the Dutch senior women’s side to a gold at the Hockey World League Semi Finals in 2015.
The Dutchman has been unable to visit his family for the last 16 months due to the Covid-19 related travel restrictions. He has been writing a book detailing his experiences of being in India during the lockdown.
With PTI Inputs