Podium in Paris is realistic goal: India coach Fulton

Craig Fulton

When the Indian men's hockey team won a historic bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, it immediately gave rise to expectations that they could better it at the next edition of the quadrennial showpiece. However, as we draw nearer to the Paris Olympics (July 26 to August 11), head coach Craig Fulton believes the aim is not to look at bettering that bronze, but rather matching it, at best.

"There's always a realistic goal and an ideal goal. The ideal goal is to win whatever tournament we are entering and be World No. 1. But the realistic goal is that we are currently ranked 4th in the world, so to get on to the podium in Paris will be considered a success. To win it, of course, would be even better, but we're still not there yet as a team," Fulton told mid-day over the phone from the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on the sidelines of the national camp (March 12 to 30).

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At the Tokyo Olympics, India managed to convert just 10 out of the 31 penalty corners they earned and the chief coach admitted this aspect of the game remains a key focus area. "There are still some areas of improvement in penalty corner defence and we have some experienced players there. It's just that there are such small margins that either work in your favour or go against you. So it's a constant challenge to try and understand what the opposition is doing and then counter it," said Fulton.

India won the gold medal at the Asian Champions Trophy in Chennai last August and followed it up with another easy gold medal show at the Guangzhou Asian Games to become the only Asian team to qualify for Paris. Given this lack of quality competition in Asia, Fulton is grateful at the international exposure outside the continent.

"We're lucky to be playing the FIH Pro League. Next, we travel to Perth to play five matches against Australia. We are the only Asian team that's qualified [for the Olympics] which is not normal. Normally, there's another Asian team that qualifies too, but not this time around and that shows there's a gap. So, we have to keep pushing hard and play as many games with the top six teams in the world. And playing five matches in Australia will be our big test," added Fulton.