New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANS) India women’s hockey team coach Sjoerd Marijne believes the team’s best Hockey World Cup finish in 52 years has given his side something far more valuable than mere encouragement - the belief that they can compete with the best teams in the world.

India finished fifth at the World Cup and will carry that confidence into the Asian Games 2026 where they will also look to seal direct qualification for the LA 2028 Olympics by winning the gold medal.

The biggest impact of the World Cup campaign for Marijne has been that his players experienced first hand that they belong at the highest level.

“I can tell them many times, ‘Okay, we are a good team, you can do it,’ but they have to experience it themselves,” Marijne told Olympics.com.

“Now they played against the best teams in the world, and they have experienced that they can match up with them, and sometimes even beat them, like Germany, who I really rank as a top-four team.”

When the World Cup was on, Germany were fifth in the world, India ninth. The Indian side defeated Germany to finish fifth in the classification match.

“Sometimes you would like to have a little bit more time to really realise what happened because when you're in the moment, you don't always realise,” he said.

“But it's the way it is, and we need to focus now on the Asian Games. Of course, it feels really good coming back with that position, and that gives a lot of confidence to the team.”

The Asian Games are around the corner and Marijne admitted India will face stiff competition in Aichi-Nagoya with China, Japan and the Korea among the sides expected to challenge for the top places. But Marijne wants his players to focus on their own performance and not the bigger picture.

“For us, it's about ourselves. Focus on our own performance and doing that well,” he said.

Even when asked to look ahead to the possibility of winning the Asian Games gold, Marijne remained reluctant to engage in hypotheticals.

“I don't believe in ‘if’. I'm sorry, I know you want to have an answer, but I'm not going to jinx things,” Marijne asserted. “I have respect for our opponents.”

His approach stems from a desire to keep the players focused on what they can control rather than becoming consumed by possible outcomes.

“Outcomes like, ‘Oh, if we win this’ or ‘if we lose that one,’ that creates stress,” he explained. “But if I'm busy like, ‘Okay, what do the girls at this moment need from me?’ that brings me back to what I can control.”

While Marijne is unwilling to look too far ahead, he is encouraged by the hunger within his squad. The players were not entirely satisfied despite finishing fifth at the World Cup, and that ambition allows him to keep raising the bar.

“They're hungry for more, and I think that is the spirit you need to have if you are acting on the highest level,” he said. “I like that mindset very much because that means that I also can set the benchmark higher and higher.”

For now, however, Marijne’s attention remains firmly on India’s opening Asian Games assignment against Uzbekistan rather than the eventual medal or Olympic qualification.

“I'm trying to focus on the here and now and on my task,” Marijne said.

--IANS

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