Again residence in Rotterdam, Thijs van Dam’s trophy cupboard boasts of a number of championship trophies and gold medals starting from the Olympic Video games to the World Cup. The one factor is that they don’t belong to him.
Van Dam’s girlfriend and live-in companion Pien Sanders performs for the Dutch nationwide girls’s group – probably the most profitable outfit within the historical past of the game – and has gained every little thing there’s to win.
The 24-year-old gained the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo 2020 earlier than clinching the World Cup gold final yr in Amstelveen and Terrassa. Sanders can be a two-time winner (2017, 2021) of the extraordinarily aggressive EuroHockey Nations Championship, the World League (2016-17) and likewise the 2018 Champions Trophy.
In truth, the one silver medal hanging within the cupboard belongs to van Dam which he gained on the 2018 World Cup right here when Netherlands misplaced the ultimate in a shootout to Belgium.
“She has gained every little thing – from the Olympic gold medal and to gold on the World Cup. Generally I see them and simply suppose f*** (laughs),” says the 26-year-old. “It’s time for me to additionally get the gold medal. I additionally should win them.”
With a profitable participant as a companion, van Dam doesn’t should look elsewhere for inspiration. “We speak about hockey rather a lot whether or not we’re at residence or travelling to play matches. She all the time evokes me. There’s a large distinction between the ladies’s and males’s hockey group within the Netherlands.”
The Dutch girls’s hockey group is probably the most profitable outfit within the sport, having gained 4 Olympic gold medals and an unimaginable 9 World Cups, together with the final three.
The Netherlands males’s group suffered a painful loss within the 2018 World Cup right here once they misplaced 2-3 to Belgium within the penalties following a 0-0 lead to regulation time. Van Dam, who was awarded the Younger Participant of the Event then, needs to make amends and is raring to information his group to the third consecutive closing and first title since Utrecht 1998.
“The shootout final time was actually shut. It was an enormous disappointment. You play for the gold medal. If you happen to see our historical past, you see solely gold medals in order that was a very large disappointment. This time we’re right here for revenge. We’re taking part in for gold,” stated van Dam.
Will probably be a repeat of final version’s closing on Friday when the Netherlands face Belgium within the semi-final on the Kalinga Stadium right here. The opposite semi-final will likely be performed between Australia and Germany.
“Now we have the prospect to win. Within the final Professional League, we confirmed the world that we will win towards each group but in addition that we will lose to each group. In the meanwhile Australia and Belgium are the 2 favourites. They’ve lots of expertise. They’ve performed for a very very long time collectively but when we play effectively, we will beat them. Now we have to be actually good. It’s attainable,” stated van Dam.
That is additionally van Dam’s fifth go to to India with the primary one being the 2016 Junior World Cup in Lucknow. After that he has come to India for the World League, World Cup and Professional League.