New Delhi: India women’s hockey team head coach Sjoerd Marijne broke down in tears after Rani Rampal and Co sealed a place in the semifinals of Tokyo Olympics 2020 with a 1-0 win over Australia. It’s the first time when India women’s team managed to qualify for the last four of the Olympic Games.

A video of Marijne went viral on social media where he was seen in tears while talking to his close ones on the video call.


The fans on Twitter compared Marijne to the Bollywood movie Chak De India’s character Kabir Khan. The role was portrayed by superstar Shah Rukh Khan who was coach of the Indian women’s hockey team.


Coming into the match, the odds were totally against India as in world no.2 Australia, a mighty unbeaten opponent, awaited them.

After the final whistle, Indian players screamed, hugged each other, and got into a huddle with their Dutch coach Sjoerd Marijne with tears of joy rolling down their faces.

“How my heart was? Its still working. I was like…ggahhh but that’s in every match in the last three games,” women’s team coach Sjoerd Marijne said after the match.

“Oh man, what we’ve tried to do and what we have done is work match by match. What can we improve in the next one and the next one”, he added.

Marijne, himself, said that it is like Chak De India in reality as he told the girls to play freely.

“The defending was not good enough especially defending in the circle. So we focussed on that. It also helps keep your mind away from winning and losing.

“It’s all about the mindset. I told the girls that we have nothing to lose, so play free, and that’s what we did today. It’s like a dream come true. I think this is the Chak De India in reality,” he said.