Indian men’s head coach Craig Fulton has said that the upcoming Hockey Asia Cup is the flagship event for the hosts, and it’s the last chance for his team to qualify for next year’s World Cup.
While speaking at the pre-match press conference, Fulton said, “This is our flagship event of the year, so we are putting everything into this tournament. We want to grow in the tournament but at the same time the prize is big — direct qualification — and that’s what we are after.”
The head coach also said that the side has not won a title for a long time, and if they manage to clinch the Hockey Asia Cup 2025, it will help the team to set the programme.
“If you qualify from here, we will have a year’s programme set. We haven’t won the tournament for a while, and the objective is to be No.1 in Asia, and we will be pushing hard for the next 10 days,” said Fulton.
The last time India managed to win an Asia Cup title was in 2017, and it had finished third in the last edition.
He then recalled the matches during the European leg of the Pro League, where they suffered defeats in close matches.
“We had some really close games in the Pro League, but the results didn’t go our way. We were playing well; we just couldn’t finish in the fourth quarter. We created chances but were not as efficient with penalty corners or field goals,” said the 50-year-old.
“But we had a really good training camp. We have put a lot of emphasis on tactics, like how to get the ball more into the D, create scoring chances, and be a bit more effective on the scoreboard,” he added.
Speaking about the selection of the squad, Fulton preferred to pick experienced players and not newcomers.
“We had a big squad — 24 (in the Australia tour). Some younger players came into the squad, so they needed games. So the first two games were about giving opportunities to younger players, and games 3 and 4 were for selection for the Asia Cup. It was competitive,” said the Zimbabwe-born coach.
“It would not be wise, in my opinion, to expose younger players in a qualifying tournament. Use your experience to get through that, and then you will have one year to blood in younger players,” he explained.
India will begin their Hockey Asia Cup 2025 campaign with a game against China on Friday.
(With PTI Inputs)
