Indian Women’s Hockey Coach Wants Best Environment For Team

Harendra Singh, the newly-appointed coach of Indian women hockey team, wants his team to deliver and win their “rightful places” in the national team. This is the first time Singh will be coaching the senior women’s team. But the former Indian player has trained the junior team to World Cup victory.

The former coach of Indian women hockey team, Sjoerd Marijne, was on Sept 8 appointed as the chief coach of the Indian men's team. This decision came across as a shock as the Dutch coach has no experience working with the senior men’s team.

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“The last few days have been incredible to say the least. The dust has settled and it's time to move on,” Singh wrote in a Facebook Post. SAI appointed Singh as the High Performance Specialist coach of the Senior Women’s team.

“Taking full responsibility for the Indian women's team is an honour. I thank all those who have placed me in this position.

"My sole objective is to share with the women's team what I already experienced with the junior men's team. I know we can walk that road again. This is not a repeat, but a new journey!"- Harendra Singh, Indian Women's Hockey Coach 

"With my staff, I now look forward to working with this talented group of players. We will concentrate on providing the team with the best possible environment and opportunities. In return, we expect our players to deliver and take their rightful spot at the top,” he said, First Post reported.

Earlier, Singh has worked as assistant coach in the Sydney Olympics (2000), World Cup (Junior 2005, 2006 and 2010), Asian Games (2006 and 2010), Asia Cup (Junior 2004 and 2009), Champion’s Challenge (2009) and various other tournaments.

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Singh thanked Sports Minister Shri Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, SAI and Hockey India for supporting him and counting on him.

"My sole objective is to share with the women's team what I already experienced with the junior men's team. I know we can walk that road again. This is not a repeat but a new journey!"

In his career so far, Singh has won eight gold medals, five silvers and nine bronzes in various international tournaments for coaching junior and senior men’s team. He also received the Dronacharya Award in 2012.