It was a walloping all right, but it still was not enough to ensure a new record for the Indian women’s hockey team. A 21-0 victory against a hapless Kazakhstan on Tuesday was perhaps the best way for the girls to go one-up on the men ahead of an extended 3-day break from competition and take confidence before the next game.
The team and coach Sjoerd Marijne both insisted the team had no clue about the record it just missed – Indian women’s biggest victory ever in Asian Games is 22-0 against Hong Kong way back in 1982 – but he did admit such huge wins help the team develop a champion’s mindset.
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“It is not about the number of goals scored for me, it is the behaviour of the team. In the last game against Indonesia, we scored eight but you could see there were no happy faces, because we struggled with our structure. Today, what impressed me most was the discipline, the structure, the attitude,” Marijne said after the game.
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As a Dutchman, he knows what difference a winning attitude can make. “I am not saying this because I am from there but because they are the world champions. And you need to play like a champion, have that attitude against any opposition. I am happy my girls did that today,” he added.
Ten Indians got onto the scoresheet -- Gurjit Kaur scored four, Lalremsiami, Vandana Katariya and Navneet Kaur struck thrice each, Navjot Kaur and Lilima Minz scored two apiece and Neha Goyal, Udita, Deep Grace Ekka and Monika once each. This, without playing captain Rani, who was rested with a slight strain in her glutes.
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The Indian women had managed ‘only’ eight goals against host Indonesia in their opening game. The men, on the other hand, pumped in 17. It wasn’t something Marijne was bothered about. “They play their game, we play ours, they are not our competition,” he quipped.
Next up would be defending champion Korea, a different ballgame altogether by his own admission. But for now, Marijne and his wards are a satisfied lot.
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