Janneke Schopman: Lack of competitive match time, not being exposed to pressure led to women’s hockey semis loss

Schopman’s assessment of the 0-4 semifinal defeat against China is fairly straightforward. It was unexpected, she says because she and her team genuinely thought they were ready. They had played well in the group stages and had the skill to go all the way. But the pressure of a big match against the hosts can hit differently.

“We had many meetings about expectations. But maybe they didn’t expect to play China in the semifinals. I said to the players that for me it wasn’t a big thing because you have to beat everyone if you want to win, but I think for them it was. In hindsight, everything’s easy. But for us not having played under pressure in the last 10 months really, it’s proven that it’s difficult to prepare if you don’t have any pressure,” the former Olympic and World Champion says.

It is the lack of competitive match-time that saw Indian women play Test matches and invitational tournaments in the lead-up to Hangzhou, but essentially, their last competitive tournament action came last December at the FIH Nations Cup.

While the men’s hockey team recently roped in Paddy Upton as their mental coach, Schopman said she would like to have some help on that front too, going forward.

“I have asked for assistance too, but unfortunately, it didn’t materialise. What I’ve come to realise is that I can help them to a certain extent,” the 46-year-old says. “That was maybe my enlightening moment after the semifinal. Not only for the players, but maybe also for me. Unfortunately, it wasn’t able to happen before the tournament. The federation is aware of it, they are very supportive. I would have liked to see it happen earlier. I said it would be beneficial from the start of the year. I hope they understand that as with the men, that can make a difference.”

Pressure against China

Schopman has long been a believer in the fact that, beyond a certain level, it’s the mindset more than the skill set that matters. One of the examples that she highlights is how simple things deserted Indians against China. “Our penalty corner execution was decent throughout the tournament, except in the semifinal where you have a mis-insert, a mis-trap, which didn’t happen in any other games, and to me that has nothing to do with skill. That has to do with pressure. It is human. And I think that is the big answer we can give ourselves if we could deal with that better as individuals, we will be better as a team,” Schopman says.

The Indian women, until recently, were underdogs in most of the matches they played against better teams. “It’s relatively easy to be underdogs. But when you are good, and we are now, it’s all about understanding that you actually have to work harder because you have this target on your back. I think we know it, but we haven’t owned it yet,” she says.

From there on, it was a question of recovering quickly to make sure that they didn’t return empty-handed. “I know how hard the girls have worked to win to try qualify (for Paris), for that to not happen is just devastating for me but more for them. In less than 48 hours you have to figure out a way to get back to being the team that I know we are.”

When they wanted to watch Japan’s match to prepare for the bronze medal clash, Schopman suggested to the players that they should rewatch the first quarter of the China game. It wasn’t easy. But the players had an hour-and-a-half meeting to analyse what went wrong. Schopman stayed away as the players had their own conversations. And that’s why Schopman believes we saw a hungrier, more composed India in the bronze medal match where they emerged as deserving winners.

Now, it’s about picking themselves up again for tougher tests to come. The pressure will be there at the Asian Champions Trophy and the Olympic qualifiers, and so is the realisation that the team must embrace this and deliver when the stakes are high.