How Jude Menezes’ Soorma Hockey Club plotted their way to the top to set up final with Odisha Warriors

There wasn’t too much doubt before pushback at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Astro Turf Hockey Stadium in Ranchi on Friday but Soorma Hockey Club signed, sealed, and delivered their place in the final of the women’s Hockey India League. They did so in style, beating Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers convincingly once more in the league phase, riding on Charlotte Englebert’s hat-trick.
The last pool stage match of the women’s HIL presented Bengal with a slim chance of upsetting the pre-tournament predictions as they needed to beat Soorma a difference of 5 goals, but Jude Menezes-coached Soorma HC started the match on fire with and doused any hopes Bengal might have harboured with three unanswered goals in the first half before closing out a 4-2 win.
With this victory, Soorma have set up the final clash against pre-tournament favourites Odisha Warriors, which will take place on 26 January in Ranchi In fact, Soorma finished the league phase in the top spot with a better record than Janneke Schopman’s Warriors.
Belgian star attacker Englebert (1’, 17’, 47’) dominated the game from the word go while Hina Bano (9’) was the other goalscorer for Soorma. Tigers paid the price for a poor start but stand-in captain Vandana Katariya (48’) and Shilpi Dabas (58′) scored in the last quarter to add some respectability to the scoreline.
Battle of the best
Even from the time of the auction there wasn’t too much doubt over which two sides of the four-team league emerged with the best squads on paper. Former India coach Schopman, herself a decorated player with the Dutch powerhouses, knows the current national women’s set-up like the back of her hand. So she focussed on getting her primary overseas Netherlands targets while adjusted the purse to fit in the right Indian options. For Soorma, Menezes was a smart recruit as he is a well-travelled coach, with times spent with the New Zealand setup, then guiding Japan women’s team to Paris 2024. He was ably supported Rani Rampal’s knowledge of Indian talents. And it showed from the start of the tournament.
Menezes’ side got the better of Schopman’s Warriors in the first meeting between the two sides in the league 2-1, while the reverse fixture ended in a 0-0 draw before the Warriors prevailed in the shootout. Overall, Soorma won four out of their six matches outright. Meanwhile the Warriors couldn’t quite live up their billing after a strong start to the tournament, finishing with just two outright wins and playing out four draws. But still, there wasn’t too much threat for their place in the final.
Delhi SG Pipers, like in the men’s edition, finished last in the league phase, although they did pull off a surprise beating Soorma 2-0 for their solitary win. Tigers fared slightly better, with two wins but paid the price for a couple of heavy defeats earlier in the tournament.
Goals galore
Yibbi Jansen, the reigning FIH Player of the Year and Olympic gold medal, has unsurprisingly been the top goalscorer in the league phase, with five goals, all from penalty corners. Schopman went all in for her compatriot, aware of Jansen’s exceptional drag-flicking skills. She is the reason the Warriors have as many goals from PCs as the rest of the three teams combined (5). Belgium’s Englebert, who has been key to Soorma’s success, joined Jansen on five goals with her hat-trick on the final day of league action. While the goalscoring has been largely dominated overseas players, Sonam Yadav of Soorma HC has made a good name for herself with some poacher’s finishes, for four goals.