Battle of the coaches beckons as Janneke Schopman's winless German side takes on Harendra Singhs's India in Women's Hockey Pro League
Despite putting on an impressive show thus far in the Women's Hockey Pro League, the Indians have just a single outright win to show for their efforts in Bhubaneswar.
After a resounding start to their campaign thanks to a 3-2 win over England, the home side settled for a 2-2 draw against the English girls before going on to lose the shootout.
Having taken the lead against Spain, the Indians battled hard before going down fighting 3-4 in a close game and then appeared to run out of ideas en route to a narrow 0-1 defeat in the second game.
Harendra Singh's team now takes on Germany who are coached by Janneke Schopman, the former coach of the Indian women's side who quit following the team's inability to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
Both Harendra Singh and Janneke Schopman who have had bumpy rides in the past are looking to alter the fortunes of their current sides via the Women's Hockey Pro League.
Janneke Schopman failed to help the USA girls qualify for the Tokyo Olympics following a loss to India throughout a dramatic two-match Olympic qualifier round back in 2019.
Following her departure from the USA side, Schopman joined the Indian contingent as the Analytical Coach with Sjoerd Marijne at the helm. After Marijne decided to part ways with the Indian camp following their historic fourth place in the Tokyo Olympics, Schopman took over as coach of the Indian women's hockey team.
Schopman who chose to controversially sideline India's talismanic striker and ex-captain Rani Rampal oversaw an Indian side that finished in ninth place in the 2022 Women's World Cup.
A disastrous 0-4 loss to China in the Asian Games semifinals the following year meant that the Indians needed to go through the Olympic qualifiers to book a berth for the Paris Olympics.
A loss to Germany in sudden death followed by a heartwrenching 0-1 defeat to Japan ended India's hopes of Olympic qualification with Schopman quitting after the India leg of the 2023-24 Women's Hockey Pro League.
Meanwhile, Harendra Singh who was relieved of his duties with the Indian men's team after the 2018 World Cup having coached the women earlier has set his sights on the future but will need his young team to stand up and be counted in the grueling Pro League.
How has Germany fared thus far in the Women's Hockey Pro League?
The once-powerful German side which lost to Argentina in the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics has played six games thus far in the current season of the Women's Hockey Pro League.
Germany lost two back-to-back matches against Spain by an identical 1-2 margin in Bhubaneswar after coming into the mini-tournament winless.
The Germans lost four of their six matches (including a couple of heavy defeats against the Netherlands) and drew a couple thus far.
Harendra Singh who took over the reins of the Indian women's side following Schopman's departure will look to outwit the Dutch coach when India and Germany play each other on February 21 and 22.
Schopman was in India recently having coached the Odisha Warriors side to victory in the women's edition of the Hockey India League.