At the Tokyo Olympics, the Indian women’s hockey team defeated Australia 1-0 in the quarterfinals on Monday to reach the semifinals for the first time. The team’s coach Sjoerd Marijne shared a picture with the team from their bus after the win, and wrote, "Sorry family, I coming again later.”
After the team’s historic win, netizens on Twitter were quick to draw comparisons between Marijne and Shah Rukh Khan’s Kabir Khan in the sports film Chak De! India.
Shah Rukh responded to Marijne’s tweet, “"Haan haan no problem. Just bring some Gold on your way back....for a billion family members," Shah Rukh wrote in his tweet. From: Ex-coach Kabir Khan.”
Marijne soon responded, “Thank you for all the support and love. We will give everything again. From: The Real Coach.”
During the match, Gurjit Kaur scored the only goal in the second quarter, leading India to a 1-0 victory against World No. 2 Australia. They will go against Argentina in the semifinals.
Chak De! India is a fictional story which revolves around a Indian women’s national field hockey team, with Kabir as their coach. It’s a classic underdog story. In a coincidence, even in the movie, the Indian team faces Australia for the World Cup.
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