Olympics 2021: It is now or never, says Indian women hockey coach Sjoerd Marijne ahead of India vs Ireland match

The Indian women’s hockey team has had a horror Olympics 2021 campaign so far. The Rani-led side has lost all the three matches they have played – against the Netherlands, Germany and Great Britain – and would hope for a miraculous turn around when they meet Ireland on Friday.

The Indian women’s hockey team looks to be in a precarious situation. Apart from needing a win in their last two matches, the Indian women’s hockey team must also win big, as goal difference could come into play for a spot in the quarter-finals.

Read: India at Olympics: Hockey points table: Pool A and Pool B full standings

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Sjoerd Marijne, the women’s hockey team coach, reflected on the team’s performance against Great Britain and said the key is to leave it behind and focus on winning the six points on offer. He said:

“We underperformed as a team against Great Britain. It wasn’t a good match on our part and we must quickly put it behind us and move on as there are still 6 very crucial points to play for in the group stage. We have to aim for the full six points from the next two games. It’s now or never.”

Indian hockey team faced tough teams early on

Skipper Rani concurred with the coach and said the team must assess their performance relative to the strength of opposition they have faced so far in the competition. She said:

“Our Olympic campaign began with a series of matches against three of the best hockey teams in the world. Although the results have not been in our favor, we have approached and played each match with the right mentality. We will continue to do so in the next two games, and give it everything we have as a team to try and get six points to qualify for the knockout rounds.”

Rani stressed the importance of converting chances and making use of most of the penalty corner opportunities that come their way.

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The Indian women’s hockey team were unable to convert six of their seven penalty corners, especially when converting set pieces could well have put them on course for vital points.

Looking ahead to the match against Ireland, Rani said:

“Ireland are a good team, and they are also our closest competitors in our group. We have to do better to convert our goal scoring chances against them; both in terms of field goal attempts and penalty corners. We did well against Great Britain to win so many penalty corners; our goal came from a PC as well. We have to improve our conversion rate in the coming matches.”