Lucknow, India defended its gold medal in style at the just-concluded Asian Games but men’s team head coach Craig Fulton still rates the bronze medal finish at the Paris Olympics as the most satisfying achievement during his current tenure.
Reigning Olympic bronze medallist India hammered Malaysia 5-1 in the final and secured a direct qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“Most satisfying moment is probably the Paris Olympics in a way of how we had stuck to our structures and our processes, even though we were losing games in the FIH Pro League and losing games against Australia before the Paris Olympics,” Fulton told PTI in an exclusive interview.
“And then we peaked at the right time through good planning and obviously with all the staff doing a great job. And what happened then is we beat Australia for the first time in 50 years.”
The Indian men’s hockey team defeated Australia 3-2 at the Paris Olympics, ending a 52-year Olympic win drought against the Kookaburras.
“Then we go 10 men down and we managed to get a shootout win. We draw the game with Great Britain and get a shootout win in the quarters. And then we play a really good game against Germany in the semifinals and just lose 3-2.”
Fulton said it was a very difficult period but he is delighted with the fact that India have dominated Asian hockey.
“Yeah, that period was very special. But at the same time, in Asia, we’ve had an amazing run. People say it’s easy to win back-to-back medals in the Asia Games. It’s never been done before. India has never done it. So, it’s not easy. I’m very proud of the performance that we’ve done in Asia,” he said.
With only 20 days between FIH World Cup, where India finished a disappointing eighth, and the Asian Games, it was not a cakewalk for Fulton and his men.
“To put two really good performances back-to-back within three weeks of two tournaments being three weeks apart, it’s really difficult. That’s why big tournaments are within three weeks of each other. You need time, you need space to recover and go again,” the South African coach said.
But he said his big goal in 2026 was always the Asian Games to ensure a direct to 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“I just think it was a really honest look at what we wanted to achieve in 2026. We knew the World Cup was there, we had bold aspirations to do well in the World Cup but unfortunately that didn’t happen. Our main goal in 2026 was the Asian Games gold and we wanted to make our own piece of Indian hockey history by defending the title and going back-to-back and winning both golds,’ he said.
Reasons for sticking with World Cup squad
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Fulton said he decided to stick to his core team for both the World Cup and the Asian Games was a conscious decision, even though there were hardly three weeks between the two events.
“Well, you see, if you have a different team or a different tournament, who’s going to coach them? Who’s going to prepare them? While I am at the World Cup, who’s coaching this group of players with the same tactics, with the same mindset and what we’re trying to do? That’s why it was easier to take one squad of players, 22 squad of players, bring them to Holland, train everyone there while we were playing in the World Cup. The other boys were still training,” Fulton said.
“They come through the same meetings. They see the same team talks. They see what happens in the game and then how we address the next game. That was the plan. It was the best way of using our resources.”
Fulton believes that India have some talented players in the pipeline. He spoke about how there has been an elaborate planning where each team follows the same strategic template.
“So, how do you want to make the transition in the team? Bringing in some juniors and making some combinations and all. How do you want to work?
“How will you like to work upon that, basically? Well, we’ve got a really good under-21 team at the moment. We have an India A team that’s training now and then the senior team is here.
“So, the program, there will be a two-week break and then there will be a training camp in Punjab, in Jalandhar, before the Asian Champions Trophy. And then we will select a new group there.
“But the week after the ACT, we literally fly to New Zealand to play three tests there. So, we’re needing to use quite a big group between now, preparing for ACT and then playing in the tournament after, which is three test matches against New Zealand.
Fulton emphasised upon the need for transition in Indian men’s team looking forward to LA 2028 and said it will start from the Asian Champions Trophy to be held in Mohali and Jalandhar from October 27 to November 5.
“We’ll have 30 players there. We’ll choose a squad of 20 to play the ACT and then extra players will stay on because they’ll be used to go and play against New Zealand in New Zealand a week after the ACT. So, again, we’ll use another group of players,” he said.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.