Indian women’s hockey team head coach Janneka Schopman says qualifying for the World Cup in the upcoming Asia Cup is her team’s main objective, where she will go ahead and assess the style and standards of her players.
India will enter the Asia Cup to be held in Muscat from January 21 to 28 as defending champions. The winner of the competition will qualify for the World Cup, which will take place in the Netherlands and Spain from 1 to 17 July this year.
Schopman, for whom it will be his second assignment with the Asia Cup squad, is looking forward to getting off to a positive start.
“First of all, our main aim will be to qualify for the World Cup. This is most important because this is where the best teams in the world come together to compete,” Schopman said in a Hockey India release.
“I’m also very curious to see the level where we are at the moment and whether we can execute the style of play that I see for the team.
“I am not looking to measure my team against my opponents in competition, but against my own expectations of how I want my team to play. I am looking forward to see how the team performs in Oman as it will be really challenging.”
Schopman, who was Sord Marijne’s deputy during the Tokyo Olympics where the Indian women missed out on a historic bronze and finished fourth, said her main focus at the ongoing training camp here is to strike a balance between attack and defence.
“We are working on defining our style of play as the Indian women’s team. It means there is a lot of movement in and out of the ball and people are involved in the attack because we want to play fast and aggressive hockey. We want to use our skill and speed to good effect.
“At the same time, we want to be a strong defensive unit. I’m happy with what I’m seeing because the better we defend in training, the better it becomes to attack, and that really affects the progress of the team.” Gives momentum,” said Schopman, a 2008 Olympic gold medalist with the Netherlands team in Beijing. ,
Also a World Cup gold medalist, Shopman is realistic about her expectations from the Indian women’s team.
“As a player myself, I understand that there are some situations when you are only expected to win. However, my expectations from the team are quite different.
“Every player has to work on the field and I am more concerned about how the players carry out their jobs and responsibilities on the field.
“I am more concerned about performance than results, and if we are able to continue to perform what we want then I am sure results will follow,” she concluded.
India will start their campaign in the eight-nation tournament against Malaysia on January 21.
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