We are a very good competitor for the Asian Games gold: Sjoerd Marijne

After securing a historic fifth place at the 2026 women’s FIH Hockey World Cup last month, the Indian team now turns its attention to the Asian Games.

China, ranked No. 4 in the world, poses the biggest challenge to India, which is four places below its neighbour. India, however, will fancy its chances against hosts Japan (World No. 11) and Korea (World No. 17).

Head coach Sjoerd Marijne believes India has a realistic chance of winning gold at the Asian Games, which would also secure a direct qualification spot for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“We drew against China at the World Cup, but we could have won. Both teams had good opportunities, so a draw was a good outcome for both. We played Japan in the Nations Cup (India won 2-1). Korea is the only country we haven’t played for a while,” Marijne said in a media interaction organised by the Sports Authority of India here.

“The main thing is to focus on ourselves. We are 90% about ourselves and 10% about the opponent,” he said.

The Dutchman is comfortable with the high expectations surrounding the women’s national team.

“Everybody expects gold; we are a very good competitor for the gold. But before the gold, there are some other matches we need to win,” he explained.

Asked about the areas India needs to improve, Marijne said: “We scored some penalty corners, but that is something we can improve. Well, it’s not really something to improve because sometimes the opponent defends really well. You want to score more field chances. But if we score a lot of field chances, then people question why we don’t score more penalty corners. If we score a lot of penalty corners, then it’s the other way around. But which country scores many goals in big matches? There aren’t any. They are all close contests.”