New Delhi, February 24 Past achievements won't guarantee selection, and players, regardless of their status, will have to fight for their place in what could be a make-or-break year for the Indian women's hockey team, its new coach Sjoerd Marijne has asserted.
The Indian women's team is going through a difficult phase. They failed to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics, an unexpected setback after achieving a historic fourth-place finish in the Tokyo Games under Marijne's guidance.
The team also failed to qualify for the FIH Pro League last year and couldn't secure a spot in the World Cup through the Asia Cup route. Marijne, who resigned due to personal reasons after the 2021 Olympics, was brought back early this year following the removal of Harendra Singh due to poor results.
The team is now looking to revive itself at the World Cup qualifiers in Hyderabad from March 8-14 under Marijne.
"We have brought in six junior players, and I quickly got to know them. As soon as I was appointed, I started observing the performance of junior women players in the HIL...I was curious to see how they respond to training sessions with the seniors, and that's going really well," Marijne told '
