The Indian women's hockey team is looking to build on a path-breaking Olympic performance in Tokyo as they begin their campaign towards Paris 2024 at the Asia Cup in Oman next week. The team's unprecedented fourth-place finish in Tokyo was described more than once as the result of a story for the second-lowest ranked team in the tournament. However, the Dalit tag is not what the team wants to wear in 2024.
"I think ultimately as a team, we didn't know where we stood," says coach Janke Schopmann, who worked as a technical analyst under previous coach Sjoerd Marin.
“Our performance in Tokyo exceeded expectations. But if we look at the statistics of the Games, we still have some advantages to be in the top 6 in the world. I think the Olympics has given us the confidence that we have Have a place at the top of world hockey. But we need to improve and need to improve. Countries that are on top of the world know they have to perform year after year. Girls want that . They don't. I don't want to be a one-day miracle. They want to be right there with the other teams. We are working on our ability to change behavior on the field and play as a team and make sure that That we play to the best of our ability. If we do that we will get closer and closer to the top teams," Schopman says.
Importantly, says Shopman, the team buys into that vision. "I don't think they personally expected all the attention and requests (after the Olympics). When we started camp in September, the group was looking forward to playing hockey again. Since then, I've achieved a few things. What we have achieved. In Tokyo. I have a vision of how we should play and how we can take the next step from Tokyo's performance. I am happy with the intention and the way they have been treated as a team and as an individual. I think we are headed in the right direction," she says.
The team is not technically playing their first competition since the Tokyo Olympics - they traveled to Korea for the Asian Champions Trophy a few months ago, but after a COVID positive infection in the team followed a match at their hotel. All were spent except - a position the shopman said was 'the mark'.
However, there is no dearth of matches this year.
The Asia Cup will serve as the qualifying event for the 2022 World Cup. The team will also be playing Commonwealth and Asian Games - the latter being a qualification event for the 2024 Olympics as well as participating in the FIH Pro League for the first time. Of these, Schopman says, the Asian Games are perhaps the most important, but the World Cup is no less important. If the Asian Games can help the team qualify for Paris, the World Cup will give an idea of how the team can perform.
"For me the next game is always the most important but everyone knows that qualifying for the Olympics is very important. Also the World Cup, which has the top countries in the world, will give us the best idea of where we currently stand. world," she says.
India are the defending champions in the Asia Cup and would naturally want to retain their title in Doha. However, Shopman notes that it will be equally important to determine whether the work they are doing in training in Bangalore will translate to the actual pitch.
"When you play international hockey you want to play sports. Since the Olympics, we've only played one game (in Korea). The Asia Cup is a World Cup qualifying tournament, so there's something at stake. But for me, it's our It's about seeing our own performance and seeing where we are. We've implemented a few things in attack and defense that I want to see. We're training very well on principles. We're training That's when we have the ball, and when we don't have the ball. And the most important thing for me is to see if we translate that into a game. I believe it can but I also think it Will give us information on moving forward in the Pro League. It will tell us if we are heading in the right direction," she says.
Shopman isn't looking to reinvent the wheel. Having worked with the team since 2019, his philosophy is to build on what the team already has. However, the team will be missing some well-known faces - the talismanic Queen Rampal in midfield and Lilima Minz in defense due to injury and retirement respectively.
"Our work rate was always there. We had defensive efforts. But I want us to be more effective when we have possession. The Indian team is very skilled and good at scoring goals. We are asking if we can attack more. opportunity. Ho - and like in the Olympics, make sure the opposition doesn't fall within our purview," she says.
The incremental approach will be seen elsewhere as well. For example, even though Wayne Lombard - the strength and conditioning specialist who revolutionized team fitness - has left, his replacement is Taren Naidoo, someone who has worked with him in the past.
"She understands what her philosophy was. It will transfer seamlessly. It will continue that way. We want fit players, healthy players. Wayne was it. So am I. We want to work very hard for it." . 60 minutes and give it your all and perform during the tournament. Certainly in the transition, things change a bit but things won't get worse. We will continue to follow the path we are on."