India women’s hockey coach Sjoerd Marijne wants players to learn different positions for the Women’s ACT 2026Scroll down to read the full story.
Published: November 13, 2026, 1:52 PM IST
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Sjoerd Marijne’s plan for India women’s hockey team (Image – X)
India women’s hockey team head coach Sjoerd Marijne has opened up about the Indian team, where he said he wants to make the side stronger by training their players to improve in playing in the different positions.
Sjoerd Marijne added that he wants the players to handle different roles and situations during the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy, which will begin in Bhopal from next weekThere will be six teams participating in this tournament.
Apart from Team India, the teams which will participate in this tournament will be China, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and ThailandChina won the silver medal at the Paris OlympicsHowever, the tournament will begin from November 19 to 28.
Recently, the Indian team beat China in the Asian Games 2026 in Japan to clinch the gold medalThis victory also helped India book a direct spot in the upcoming 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
India is succeeded in winning the Asian Champions Trophy title three timesNow, Team India will aim to defeat China again on their home ground in BhopalThe victory over China would help them to show that its Asian Games gold medal was not just a one-time success.
“We are busy creating more depth, which also makes training sessions more competitiveThe players are also aware of that,” Marijne said.
“We want the players to be able to play in different positionsIt’s to create more depth in the squadIt becomes helpful if a player gets injured, especially in a tournament like the Olympics, and it’s very helpful for the development of the players,” he added.
Sjoerd Marijne provided an exam[les of star players Ishika and Rutuja Dadaso PisalHis aim is to make players learn how to play in more than one positionIshika usually plays as a forward, but she is now also learning to play in midfield.
“Ishika normally plays as a striker and now sometimes plays as a midfielder as well; it’s the same with Rutuja (Dadaso Pisal)So, they have to learn to adapt to playing in other positions and we want to see if this adds something to the game we want to play, to the improvements we want to see in the team,” he added.
Not only this, he also added that the Indian team would concentrate on its own game rather than analysing any particular opponent or players’ game.
“The main thing is what I’ve said the whole year, and it will be the same for this tournament: we have to focus on ourselves, what we want to improve after the Asian Games, what we want to do betterThat is where the main focus is for usAnd then it doesn’t matter who is the opponent.”
“We have worked on those topics in the camp in Bengaluru, and now it’s time to see how they perform under pressure in a tournament,” he added.
