Sjeord Marijne to take over as Indian men's hockey coach
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Current coach of Indian women’s hockey team, Sjoerd Marijne has been appointed as the chief coach of the men's side to replace Roelant Oltmans. Meanwhile, World Cup-winning junior team coach Harendra Singh has been appointed as the High-Performance Specialist coach of the senior women's team.
Newly-appointed Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, on his official twitter page, announced the new appointments and a top Hockey India official, told PTI, that both
Current Chief Coach of Indian Senior Women Hockey Team, Mr. Waltherus Marijne,will take over as Chief Coach of Indian Senior Men Hockey Team
— Rajyavardhan Rathore (@Ra_THORe) September 8, 2017
Pleased to announce appt of Sh Harendra Singh, Dronacharya Award winner,as High Performance Specialist Coach fr Indian Snr Women Hockey Team
— Rajyavardhan Rathore (@Ra_THORe) September 8, 2017
However, the sudden appointment came as a surprise as Hockey India on Monday invited applications for a new full-time coach for the senior national team, issuing a job description for the post and advertising for the post like the Board of Control for Cricket in India had done recently.
The new coach will have a host of responsibilities on his shoulder now as the Asia Cup is set to take place in Dhaka in October, followed by the Hockey World League Final in Bhubaneswar in December. Then next year sees the Commonwealth Games in Australia, followed by the Asian Games and the Asian Champions Trophy. The all-important World Cup also takes place in November 2018 and with just over a year left.
