"If it was magic, we would be No. 1," says Indian women's hockey coach Sjoerd Marijne

"If it was magic, we would be number one in the world."

Those were the words of coach Sjoerd Marijne when prodded about the success he has had with the Indian women's hockey team. For him, the performance at the recently concluded 2026 FIH World Cup was no stroke of luck.

Marijne instead credited the team’s unity and discipline that led to the team's historic fifth-place finish, their best-ever World Cup showing in 52 years.

"For me, it’s about what makes a big difference in teams. And one of the things is creating unity. That is something we have done with the whole staff," he told The Bridge.

The Dutchman, who previously led the Indian side to a fourth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics, said creating a strong team culture had been one of his key priorities.

"It contains discipline that is creating a culture that every person can be themselves," he pointed.

India’s defensive display

Salima Tete’s team’s solid defensive display stood out throughout the tournament, particularly against the higher-ranked teams. They concluded the tournament with two wins, three draws and one defeat from six matches.

Their only loss came against defending champions and World No 1 Netherlands (0-2) while producing resilient draws against higher-ranked China (2-2), England (0-0) and Australia (0-0) and defeated South Africa 6-1 to mark their biggest-ever World Cup win.

They then beat Germany 3-1 to finish fifth.

Marijne said the emphasis had been on getting the smallest details right.

"For me, defense is the first thing. It comes with a lot of structure and discipline. And it's doing the small things well like putting your left hand down, defending with two hands, all those small things. And I'm really on top of that with my technical staff," he explained.

"And if the defensive part is good, we can start talking about attacking. And you always create opportunities, one match more than the other. But that is for us the next step to create even more, but also execute more,” he said.

Marijne believes that the team’s defensive discipline has helped create a better environment within the squad, with players fulfilling their individual responsibilities.

“If everybody is doing his job and is task driven, you have less complaints in the team and less irritations,” he said.

On attack

India’s ability to score goals remains an area that requires improvement but Marijne highlighted the team's performance against Germany as an example of the attacking efficiency, something the girls need to do more consistently.

“In a perfect world, we want to improve on that front. But if you see The Netherlands-Argentina game, the former scored one PC and Argentina converted one of five PCs. So it's always a combination of creating field chances and PCs,” he said.

“In women’s hockey it's not like you get five field chances, you make all five. The way we did against Germany, that is the way it has to be. We have recreated space and we executed on the right moment. We came 12 times in the circle, we got two PCs and we got three goals. So I'm happy about those numbers,” he added.

Unity bands

The Indian team including Marijne were spotted wearing unity bands in their hands during the World Cup.

"Nobody can perform without their teammate. When they look into their wrist, they see the red-yellow bands. It's for India that they remember I'm doing this for my teammate. And if they push harder, it's easier for their teammate who comes in after them,” he said.

Eyes on Asian Games

With the World Cup firmly behind them and qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics on the line, India will look to carry the same momentum into the Asian Games.

Coach Marijne believes India are strong contenders for gold but stressed that the team must focus on their own performance rather than get caught up in expectations.

“We are one of the four countries which is one of the competitors for the gold. And that's China, Japan and Korea. Everybody now expects the gold, but for us, it’s match by match,” he concluded.