Asian Games 2026: Marijne's miracle ends India's 44-year wait for women's hockey gold

A few months back, before the team left for Europe to play in the World Cup, Salima Tete was clear when speaking to ESPN - the focus would be on good performances, but... "we have to beat China." For the captain of the Indian women's hockey team, the stated goal was to become the best in Asia, and to do that, they had to beat China -- a China that had made even the mighty Dutch team sweat at the Paris Olympics final. The emphasis on "we have to beat China" was evident in Tete's voice.

Fast forward to Friday, October 2 and she'd done it. Tete and her Indian women's hockey team did exactly as promised -- India ended a 44 year wait at the Asian Games to win the gold medal in women's hockey after beating China 1-0 and thereby qualified for the LA Olympics.

India's performance in the final was a masterclass in defence that deserves to be mentioned alongside India (W) vs. Australia back in the Tokyo Olympics and India (M) vs. England at the Paris Olympics.

They took the lead in the 10th minute thanks to an outstanding reverse hit finish by Lalremsiami and then each one of them played their part in defending the lead. The work rate to fall back and cover each attack, the fighting spirit to win duels and tackles and interceptions, showed how much this team wanted it -- both the win over China and the elusive gold medal.

Even on a rare occasion when a mistake was made in the final, this team had individuals rise to the occasion and bail them out.

Take the great Savita Punia for instance. She pulled off a stunning one-handed save by diving low to her left to deny Ying Zhang's penalty stroke after a push by Sushila Chanu. Something like this would become a career highlight for a player, but for Savita, this felt routine.

This is what the 36-year-old had been doing for more than decade now. Rising to the occasion came naturally for one of the best goalkeepers in the world.

Before the save however, there was the goal. And like the save itself, that was world class too.

Like Savita, Lalremsiami has also played plenty of international games for close to a decade. But unlike Savita, who had countless 'wow' moments, Lalremsiami's goal might become the highlight of her career. There had been criticism of her finishing, that she did all the hard work - pressing high, winning the ball and finding space inside the circle, but never scored as much as she should.

Not this time though. Sakshi Rana played the pass to her inside the circle, Lalremsiami, in space, took a touch and unleashed a vicious reverse hit that beat the goalkeeper and hit the roof of the net.

And the goal happened because the ball was won by India captain Tete. Savita and Lalremsiami owned the big moments in the final, but Tete owned the pitch. She was everywhere, doing everything -- running back the length of the pitch to close down Chinese attackers, intercepting a pass running the length of the pitch to initiate attacks and putting her body on the line while rushing to block dragflicks.

She took a blow to her finger and was out for about 10 minutes but came back in the final quarter to boost her team. There's a reason why she's the captain.

As the hooter went off to signal the end, the players rushed towards head coach Sjoerd Marijne. They didn't take long to lift him in the air multiple times.

The head coach was the architect of not just one, but now two of the best moments in Indian hockey. Back in 2021, he ensured the team finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics. Five years later, he returned to give the team their first Asiad gold in 44 years.

When Marijne took charge earlier this year, he knew he had quite the task in front of him. This was not the same team that he left after a remarkable Olympics campaign. At both Asian and world level, India had slipped. They were relegated from the FIH Pro League a year back and couldn't make it to the Paris Olympics. He also had to deal with multiple injuries to key players in the team.

After taking charge of the team, Marijne said that he wasn't a patient man and he would demand immediate improvements.

And once the fitness levels started changing, the results also started coming.

India won the FIH Nations Cup and earned qualification back to FIH Pro League.

They went to the World Cup and showed they can go toe-to-toe against the best teams from Europe. In fact, they impressed with their style of play -- positive hockey with focus on quick passing and high pressing their opponents. A fifth-place finish in the World Cup, above China, proved to be a huge confidence booster.

While India overwhelmed most of their opponents at the Asian Games, they knew the real test would come against China. All those double-digit goals scored would not mean anything if they fell at the final hurdle.

After the World Cup, when ESPN asked Marijne about how he would dethrone China at the Asian Games, unlike his captain, his reply was that he only wanted to concentrate on his team and nothing else.

He might not have said it, but he planned for it from the moment he came in. This was always the first major objective.

On October 2, 2026, he and Tete and the India team successfully achieved it.