Taking ownership will be key against Malaysia: Indian women's hockey team coach

Indian women's hockey team coach Sjoerd Marijne believes that self-discipline and taking ownership will be the key to success in the five-match bi-lateral series against Malaysia. India led by ace goalkeeper Savita will begin the campaign on Thursday.

"Always raising the bar is not easy, that demands discipline and taking responsibility. That ownership is again one of the main areas I would like to see our team improve. Our challenge is not our opponent but always ourselves," Marijne said. "It is difficult to say how they play as we have not played against them in a while but the last time I saw Malaysia was during the Asian Games in Jakarta and that is a while ago. From what I saw there, they like to play long aerial balls and like to defend with a lot of passion," the coach said.

The last time India met Malaysia in a big event was at the 2017 Asia Cup where they had beaten Malaysia 2-0 in the round robin league before winning the title in a tense final against China. The 2018 Women's World Cup bronze medallists earlier this year won 5-2, drew twice 1-1 and 2-2 and lost 2-3 to Spain. India further improved with a 1-1 draw and 3-0 win over Ireland, who won silver at the 2018 tournament.

India will be looking to repeat their feat with a victorious tour of Malaysia. (ANI)

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