Janneke Schopman on why Rani Rampal was sidelined: ‘She wasn’t good enough… couldn’t run’
Janneke Schopman stepped down from her role as the chief coach of Indian women’s hockey team on Friday just days after she spoke out about the treatment she had received from Hockey India.
The Dutch coach’s explosive interview about Hockey India officials coupled with the Indian women’s team’s inability to qualify for the Paris Olympics meant that Schopman parting ways with the Indian team was inevitable.
One of the issues that lingered on during Schopman’s two-and-a-half year stint at the helm of the women’s team was the exclusion of team talisman Rani Rampal from the side.
Under Rani’s captaincy, India had finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. But she had barely featured for the women’s team since Schopman took over the reins of the Indian team from compatriot Sjoerd Marijn...