Indian women’s hockey team head coach Sjoerd Marijne on Sunday said his players dished out the perfect game against hosts Japan in the summit clash of the FIH Series Finals in Hiroshima.
India beat Asian Games champions Japan 3-1 in the final match to clinch the title. The Indian team has already secured a place in the final round of the 2020 Olympics qualifiers by entering the final of this tournament.
“It was a hard-fought match, it was a difficult match. We did nothing wrong,” Marijne said after the match.
“I think we defended very well, we play fast combination hockey and have a good drag-flick. She (drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur) was impressive again today,” he added.
Gurjit was the highest scorer of the tournament with 11 strikes to her name while captain Rani Rampal was declared the player of the tournament.
The final round tournament of the 2020 Olympics qualifiers will be held later this year but the venue is yet to be decided by the international hockey federation. Marijne hoped that the Olympics qualifying tournament is held in India.
“We are happy with the 500 points. When we came here, our mission was 500 points. Hopefully, we will be given the advantage to play at home (in the final round of Olympic qualifiers) and that will be great,” he said.