Sjoerd Marijne to replace Roelant Oltmans as chief coach of India men's hockey Team

New Delhi: In a surprising move, women's national hockey coach Sjoerd Marijne was today named chief coach of the India men's hockey Team side, replacing the sacked Roelant Oltmans.

Besides, World Cup-winning junior team coach Harendra Singh was appointed High Performance Specialist coach of the senior women's team. While Marijne will take charge on September 20 after returning from an ongoing tour of Europe with the women's team, Harendra will be on the job tomorrow itself.

The decisions were announced by newly-appointed Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore on his official twitter page.

"Current Chief Coach of Indian Senior Women Hockey Team, Mr. Waltherus Marijne,will take over as Chief Coach of Indian Senior Men Hockey Team," Rathore tweeted.

"Pleased to announce appt of Sh Harendra Singh, Dronacharya Award winner, as High Performance Specialist Coach fr Indian Snr Women Hockey Team," the Minister added.

According to a top Hockey India official, both Marijne and Harendra have been given a tenure till the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The decision came was a bolt from the blue as Hockey had advertised for Oltmans' successor on its website just three days ago. HI had set September 15 as the deadline to apply for the post.

However, the official said HI withdrew the advertisement yesterday. "The advertisement has been withdrawn as both HI and the Sports Authority of India felt Marijne is the best candidate for the job having spent more than six months in the country," the official told PTI.

It has been learnt that Marijne was initially reluctant to take up the role. The 43-year-old Dutchman, who was appointed as the Indian women's coach in February earlier this year, has never worked with a national men's team before.

But he agreed after HI and SAI convinced him. The position for men's coach had fallen vacant after Oltmans was sacked last Saturday following a string of poor performances in the recent past. Oltmans came to India fours years ago as a High Performance Director before assuming the role of coach in 2015 following Paul van Ass' removal.