The Indian women's team start their ninth FIH hockey World Cup looking to finally make a big impression on the World Cup stage... and kick on from it. After finishing fourth in 1974, they've never done better than seventh, but Hockey India have turned to the man who brought them closest to a major medal in modern times, Sjoerd Marijne, to recapture (or better) the magic of '74.
Five years ago, Marijne had led India to fourth in the Tokyo Olympics, an impressive run that took them to the upper echelons of world hockey, but India couldn't use that result as a springboard to build an elite side. In fact, that phase culminated in the nadir of not being able to qualify for the next Olympics in Paris. Marijne's return, then, has a two-fold motive: climb back to the top-tier, and stay there.
The start of this new spell has been promising. First came a final at the World Cup qualifiers, which booked their place in Belgium & Netherlands 2026, and then came a title win in the FIH Nations Cup in June. That, coupled with impressive tours to Argentina and Australia, mean that India come into this World Cup in good form.
From Tokyo 2021 to Belgium & Netherlands 2026, there's been big changes in the squad, naturally. At the Olympics, Rani Rampal, Gurjit Kaur, Deep Grace Ekka, Savita Punia and Vandana Katariya formed the spine; at this World Cup only Savita remains of that leadership group. Instead, the likes of Navneet Kaur, Neha Goyal, Nikki Pradhan, Sushila Chanu, Lalremsiami and captain Salima Tete, who were youngsters in the Tokyo squad, have taken up the helm: newbies turned leaders in five years.
"There are seven or eight senior players, that is a big help for the youngsters. We have a good mix of youngsters and senior players. They are good players, we have to help them as much as possible with dealing with the pressure of a big tournament," goalkeeper and former captain Savita tells ESPN.
That will be important, especially with some important players in the squad making their World Cup debuts, like midfielder Sakshi Rana, among the youngest players in the squad. She has made a big impression on Marijne with her all-round ability in midfield, but she has recognized some gaps herself. Sakshi tells ESPN that she still has some inhibitions about herself and her game, and that means that sometimes, she isn't as vocal as she must be on the field as a midfield player. But over the last few camps, Navneet has taken Sakshi under her wing - the message to the youngster has been that her age and experience don't matter on the field, it is important that she points out mistakes or gaps in the structure, irrespective of who she is talking to.
Savita has that kind of equation with Bichu Devi Kharibam, who has been the second-choice goalkeeper for many years, but has only sprung to the limelight with a run of games earlier this year, made possible by Savita having to undergo ankle surgery. "There's nothing like playing on the field as the first goalkeeper," Savita says. "Bichu has done well in big tournaments like the Asia Cup and the World Cup qualifiers, and now she is also ready for the World Cup."
Since taking over, Marijne has rebuilt trust with this core via long camps at the Sports Authority of India facility in Bengaluru, and despite the absence of striker Sangita Kumari and midfielder Vaishnavi Phalke through knee injuries, the Dutchman knows that he has got a squad which can compete.
In these camps, Marijne focused on fitness and on the single most important aspect of modern hockey - penalty corners. A coaching stint with Dutch legend Taeke Taekema took the latter to the next level: in their Nations Cup triumph, 13 of India's 16 goals came from penalty corners. Deepika Sehrawat scored six of them, while Navneet scored three more.
As for field goals, Marijne feels that's a function of repeatability and building patterns -- in passing, movement and chance creation. And that's something he's been re-drilling into the team from day 1 too.
What matters now, though, is that the Nations Cup success, which may have come against 'lesser' opponents than India will face at the World Cup, has given the team the vital confidence of having good results (and performances) behind them.
Before leaving for that tournament in New Zealand, Marijne had told ESPN that their work wasn't just tournament focused, but on the basics of big game management: they worked on controlling counterattacks, attacking structures, PC defence. This will be key when they come up against England and China in the first group stage at the World Cup, both teams ranked higher than them. China are indisputably the best team in Asia, and England recently beat India in the final of the World Cup qualifiers in Hyderabad.
Marijne knows it will be difficult, that is why he has not set a tangible target for what constitutes a successful World Cup for India. "It all depends on our performances," he says. "The first goal is the first match against China, and then, of course, you want to go to the second group. If you win two matches [and lose one in the first pool] and the other one also goes to the next pool, you know you need to beat the Netherlands and maybe Australia [to make the semifinal]. So that will already be harder."
Given the different permutations and combinations involved, Marijne's goals are simple: play as well as he knows his team can and take things by the game in the first group stage. On paper, everything is stacked against India right from the off, but then they were in Tokyo as well, where Marijne's team bucked the odds in spectacular fashion. He sees no reason why they can't repeat the feat five years later.