Sjoerd Marijne has quit as the head coach of the Indian women's hockey team after guiding them to a historic fourth-place finish at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
The 47-year-old on Friday revealed that the bronze medal match against Great Britain in the ongoing Olympics was his last assignment with the side.
The Indian women came tantalisingly close to winning their maiden Olympic medal before losing to Great Britain 3-4 in a close bronze play-off match. Hours after this feat, Marijne announced that it was his last assignment with the Indian team.
"I don't have any plans because this was my last match with Indian women. It's upto Janneka (Schopman) now," the Dutchman told the Indian media in a virtual press conference.
"I will miss the girls but I miss my family more. My family is No 1. I want to be with my son, daughter and wife after being away for three and a half years. This is a beautiful way to end this journey," he said.
We did not win a medal, but I think we have won something bigger. We have made Indians proud again and we inspired millions of girls that dreams CAN come true as long as you work hard for it and believe it! Thanks for all the support!
— Sjoerd Marijne (@SjoerdMarijne) August 6, 2021
It has been learnt that both Marijne and team's analytical coach Janneka Schopman were offered an extension by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) but the former refused the offer due to personal reasons.
Sources in the know of developments told PTI that Schopman is expected to take over Marine's position on a full-time basis now.
Marijne, a former Dutch player, took over the reins of the Indian women's team first in 2017 but was appointed the coach of the men's side later that year.
However, in 2018, he was re-designated the women's coach in a rejigging of roles.
Marijne has played for The Netherlands, and guided the Dutch Under-21 women's side to a World Cup title and the Dutch senior women's side to a gold at the Hockey World League Semi Finals in 2015.
The affable Dutchman has been unable to visit his family for the last 16 months due to the COVID-19 related travel restrictions and this ultimately proved too much for him to deal with.
He had made efforts to get back home but could not because of the restrictions. He then began writing a book detailing his experiences of being in India during the lockdown.
