Who is the new head coach of Indian men’s hockey team?

Sjoerd Marijne appointed as the new head coach of Indian men's hockey team. Image Source: twitter
Sjoerd Marijne appointed as the new head coach of Indian men’s hockey team. Image Source: twitter

Internet Desk: On a surprising note women’s national hockey team coach Sjoerd Marijne was named the head coach of the men’s team from today. He replaced Roelant Oltmans who was sacked by Hockey India last week.

Beside him, India’s World Cup winning junior team coach Harendra Singh too was appointed as High Performance Specialist coach in place of Sjoerd Marijne.

Marjine will take his charge as the men’s team coach on September 20. He is with the women’s hockey team as they are touring in Europe. Harendra will be on the job on Saturday itself.

The decisions were announced by newly-appointed Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore on his official twitter page.

“Current Chief Coach of Indian Senior Women Hockey Team, Mr. “Pleased to announce appt of Sh Harendra Singh, Dronacharya Award winner, as High Performance Specialist Coach fr Indian Snr Women Hockey Team,” the Minister added.

Rathore

“Pleased to announce appt of Sh Harendra Singh, Dronacharya Award winner, as High Performance Specialist Coach fr Indian Senior Women Hockey Team,” the Minister added.

Rathore 1

According to a top Hockey India official, both Marijne and Harendra have been given a tenure till the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The decision came was a bolt from the blue as Hockey had advertised for Oltmans’ successor on its website just three days ago. HI had set September 15 as the deadline to apply for the post.

However, the official said HI withdrew the advertisement yesterday.

“The advertisement has been withdrawn as both HI and the Sports Authority of India felt Marijne is the best candidate for the job having spent more than six months in the country,” the official told PTI.

It has been learnt that Marijne was initially reluctant to take up the role. The 43-year-old Dutchman, who was appointed as the Indian women’s coach in February earlier this year, has never worked with a national men’s team before.

But he agreed after HI and SAI convinced him.

The position for men’s coach had fallen vacant after Oltmans was sacked last Saturday following a string of poor performances in the recent past.