"Chak de India," exclaims coach Sjoerd Marijne after best finish in 52 years at FIH Women's World Cup

“Chak De India!” beamed Indian women's hockey coach Sjoerd Marijne on Thursday after the team's creditable fifth-place finish in a memorable World Cup campaign, saying the achievement would give the players a huge confidence boost ahead of the Asian Games in September-October.

India pulled off a dominant 3-1 win over higher-ranked Germany in a classification match to take the fifth spot, its best show in the World Cup in 52 years, after the fourth-place finish in 1974 under Ajinder Kaur's leadership

"Of course I am satisfied, but I am also a coach who always demands more. But this moment is to enjoy. What the girls have achieved, they have rewritten history," Marijne said after India's landmark campaign.

"It is a young team and they are amazing, but the next thing is already waiting. We need to recover now and take this new good experience to the next tournament, the Asian Games," he added.

Marijne said the performance of the players would give them greater belief in their abilities.

"It gives the boost in confidence. I keep telling the players that we can do it. At the end, you have to experience it and that's what we did today," he said.

The Dutchman stressed that India would continue to focus primarily on their own game at the Asian Games rather than worrying about the opposition.

"In the Asian Games also, it will be 90 per cent about ourselves. We won't focus on the opponents. That's how we approached every match," he said.

Marijne was also quick to underline the collective effort behind India's performance, refusing to single out any individual player.

"Not one player, it is one team. I am not going to name anyone," he said.

The coach, however, admitted that India still need to improve their consistency, pointing out that their performances cannot simply be judged by the number of goals scored.

"You cannot always rank the best performance on the basis of goals you have scored. We played really well against China and England. The only match we didn't play well was against Australia and we know that. We need to work on consistency," he said.

"Chak De India," Marijne signed off, celebrating a campaign that has given Indian women's hockey renewed belief and confidence.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Bridge Desk. It is published from a syndicated feed.)