Indian women’s hockey team
Head coach Sjoerd Marin said the Indian women’s hockey team has learned to overcome defeat, adding that the Olympic semi-final loss to Argentina is history as the side looks to claim the historic bronze.
A valiant Indian women’s hockey team put up a stellar performance but it was not enough to secure their first Olympic final berth as they lost 1-2 to world number two Argentina in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
India still have a chance to win a bronze medal as they take on Great Britain in a third-fourth-place play-off match on Friday.
“We came here to win a medal and still have one (available). It’s about recovery now, about mindset. The good thing is it’s not always good that we lost a lot in the past But we have also learned to deal with it. Defeat,” Marijne said after the match.
“So it’s okay, what can we improve from this match.”
The Dutchman feels that India failed to grab their chances against Argentina, which ultimately made the difference.
“In these matches it’s about taking your chances. Argentina did better than us. With the PC, the injection wasn’t always right, the trapping wasn’t good and then you can’t play the PC exactly what you want,” he said. Said. .
“I can’t get angry or mad at the girls because we don’t play matches like this that much. It’s a whole new experience and you also have to learn how to play these matches. It’s about taking your chances. Is.
“The intensity we showed last quarter was really good.”
India captain Rani Rampal concurred with Marijne’s comments and said that the competition is not over for the Indians.
“We are disappointed because we lost. We fought a lot against Argentina. They converted their chances and we got PCs (penalty corners) too, but we only converted one,” he said.
“The energy in the third and fourth quarters was different from the first two quarters, it was not that high. We will learn from this because we have one more game to play.
“The tournament is not over yet. We still have a chance to win a bronze. An Olympic medal is a medal. It’s good if you win gold but still have a bronze, so we will fight for that medal and we will.” Focus on the next match.”
The coach feels that the achievements of the 18 Indian players here will change the face of women’s hockey in the country.
“I think a lot because now women’s hockey is also taken seriously.
“It’s getting crazy. He’s so proud of the girls and behind the girls there’s a whole country. I don’t think you can make anything more beautiful than this,” Marijne said.
Dragflicker Gurjit Kaur, who gave India the lead in the second minute against Argentina, wants to learn from her mistakes in the game before the bronze medal bout.
“We have learned a lot from this game and we will continue to learn after watching the videos and working on our mistakes,” she said.
“Semifinals are a high-pressure match and both teams are under pressure to score a goal. It could have been a draw, it could have been a loss. We had a lot of chances (but) we didn’t change much. of opportunities.
“But we look forward to applying the learnings from this match and continuing to work towards bronze in the next game.”
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