Waltherus Marijne has been appointed as the new coach of India men's hockey team, replacing Roelant Oltmans. Harendra Singh has been appointed as the high-performance specialist coach for the women's team. Both of them will be in charge of the India team till 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore announced the appointment via tweets.
Current Chief Coach of Indian Senior Women Hockey Team, Mr. Waltherus Marijne,will take over as Chief Coach of Indian Senior Men Hockey Team
— Rajyavardhan Rathore (@Ra_THORe) September 8, 2017
Marijne was given the job after Sports Authority of India and Hockey India convinced him in taking the post though he might have been quite reluctant. This will be his first stint as men's hockey coach for any big nation.
However, the appointment of Marijne has come as a big surprise for a number of reasons, especially considering HI having advertised for the job, earlier in the week. One thought that several former India players would be interested in taking the job.
Marijne's appointed as the coach of the women's team in February 2017 has helped him understand the functioning of HI as well. His six-months stint so far might have played an important role in helping him land the high-profile job in India hockey.
"The advertisement has been withdrawn as both HI and the Sports Authority of India felt Marijne is the best candidate for the job having spent more than six months in the country," PTI quoted Hockey India official as saying.
This decision seems to have been taking, keeping in mind the long-term project of 2020 Olympics, but the task ahead for Marijne will not be easy.
Can Marijne bring back the glory days? We, we will have to wait and watch.
