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Legendary Dutch dragflicker Taeke Taekema joined the Senior Indian Women's Hockey Team for a specialised training camp focused on dragflicking and penalty-corner execution during the team's tour of Australia and New Zealand from May 26 to June 21 2026.
Taekema has been brought in to further sharpen the skills of dragflickers as the Indian team prepares for the FIH Hockey Women's Nations Cup New Zealand 2025-26, scheduled to take place from the June 15-21 2026, under its Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne, as per a press release from Hockey India. Indian dragflickers Deepika, Lalthantluangi and Annu are participating in the focused training sessions, aimed at sharpening India's penalty-corner conversions and overall attacking efficiency ahead of a crucial international season. Taekema is regarded as one of the finest dragflickers world hockey has seen. A former Netherlands international, Taekema was known for his powerful penalty-corner conversions and represented the Dutch national team in multiple major international tournaments, including the Olympic Games and FIH Hockey World Cups. He has over 200 appearances and 221 international career goals to his name. The initiative is supported by Anandana, The Coca-Cola India Foundation, continuing their contribution towards the growth and development of women's hockey in India. Anandana also supported the special goalkeeping camp for the Indian Women's Hockey Team conducted by renowned coach David Williamson in Bengaluru before the team's departure for Australia. As part of the preparations for the FIH Women's Nations Cup in Auckland, India played a friendly series of four matches against Australia at the Perth Hockey Stadium from 26th to 30th May 2026. Both the teams won two matches each, ending the series in a 2-2 draw. The Indian team will reach New Zealand on June 3, where they will continue their preparations with practice matches ahead of the FIH Women's Nations Cup. Sjoerd Marijne, Chief Coach of the Indian Women's Hockey Team, stated, "We know that penalty corners are crucial in modern hockey and having a coach with Taeke Taekema's experience will be extremely valuable for us. Besides dragflicking, his role will also be much broader in helping improve our defensive structures. He has developed himself wider and we are looking to utilise his full potential with the team." "I have coached him, so I know him very well, and we are on the same page in terms of our approach. His experience as a former top-level player will also be very important for the team. We already have good dragflickers in the squad and also a strong striking option in Navneet Kaur. It is crucial for us to get more out of our penalty-corner opportunities and this camp will definitely help us improve in that area," Marijne added. (ANI)
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