'To fill Sreejesh's shoes is going to take an immense effort,' says chief coach Craig Fulton

Mumbai, Aug 28 (IANS) After guiding the Indian senior men’s hockey team to a historic second successive bronze medal in the Paris Olympic Games, Craig Fulton, head coach, is now facing a new challenge. He has to drag back his players, who have been celebrating non-stop, to hockey and prepare them for the Asian Champions Trophy starting in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia in China from September 8 to 17.
In an exclusive interview with IANS, Fulton shared his thoughts on the Paris campaign, the India team’s performance and the upcoming challenges. Excerpts:
Q: What is your assessment of the team’s performance in the Paris Olympic Games? The team won a historic bronze medal but that was not the aim at the start as the team could have gone all way. So, how do you see the overall performance?
Fulton: Very successful, from, obviously taking the job with three months before the Asian Games to qualifying and then having just a year to prepare a team for the Olympic Games and then to get to the semifinals and push as hard as we did in the semifinals. It was very, very close to playing in the gold medal match and unfortunately, we couldn’t find that extra goal or two. But we played really, really well. And then, you know, to pick ourselves back up and play a very strong Spanish team and to win the bronze was rewarding.
Of course, we wanted more. It would have been a disaster if we’d finished fourth, you know. So, I thought it was a successful campaign. We did a really good job in the Pool to make the quarterfinals after the first three games. We could have got something out of the Belgium game, which we narrowly lost 2-1, but we played well. And then the reward was after the five-match Test series loss in Australia, to win 3-2 in the last pool game, which was very, very rewarding.
Q: When did you think the team could win a medal? At what stage in the campaign were you confident that, okay, yes, this time we definitely will win a medal?
Fulton: At the beginning of the tournament, we had a good team build-up in Switzerland and we played two games against Holland. And in the second game, we should have won the game. We had a good lead, we were 3-2 up, but we were playing really, really well. And then we had a good game against Great Britain. We won the warm-up game and then we played Germany and we won the warm-up game before the tournament. So, I knew we were on track with our preparation leading into the first game. The first game was very difficult just because we hadn’t played New Zealand since the last time India lost in the World Cup quarterfinal. So, that was always a difficult game and I’m glad we played well and deserved to win that game.
So I would say before the tournament, we were tracking really well. The first three games got us into the quarterfinal because we had seven points and then we had a free go against Belgium. And then even when we played Belgium, I knew we were on track because we should have drawn that game. We should never have lost that game. At the same time, we had chances, but we’re playing well. We were pressing well. We’re moving the ball well. And then against Australia, everything came together. And to have Belgium and Australia as a warm-up to your quarterfinal, there was no better. There was no better test than that.
Q: Would you consider the win against Australia as one of the best performances since you have seen them?
Fulton: Yeah, well, I think the first game that India played in Tokyo was against Australia and I think they lost 7-1. So, they have come full circle and then beat them and it’s pretty much the same Australian team. There’s been a big movement from an Indian perspective and that was very rewarding.
Is it the best game? It was. I think the best game was, from a results point of view, the one against Great Britain in the quarterfinal, because of what was at stake. But the overall performance and the result of the Australian game was fantastic. it was right up there.
Q: Who among these players would you pick as the best performers in Paris?
Fulton: It’s a full squad effort. You can’t deny that. Harmanpreet Singh scored 10 goals, but he didn’t win all the PCs. You know, you need strikers, you need midfielders, you need Sreejesh, you need everyone. So I don’t like that in a sense, because you make a team sport, an individual sport, and it’s not. And then you have a massive work ethic with the staff behind the scenes that prepares everything from the conditioning to the technical to the tactical to the planning.
So, it’s a massive team effort. You know, Harman wouldn’t have scored those 10 goals if it wasn’t for the team in front of him. But no one can do what Harman does, you know, because he is the best drag-flicker in the world. So at that stage, yeah, it looked like it was his performance. It’s nice that he’s playing for our Indian team and not anyone else.
Q: The team will now be participating in the Asian Champions Trophy (in China from September 8) without Sreejesh there. How difficult is this task to, you know, fill in the shoes of somebody like him? What is your overall assessment of the preparation for the Asian Champions Trophy?
Fulton: To fill Sreejesh’s shoes is going to take an immense effort. I mean, Pathak (Krishan Bahadur Pathak) and Suraj (Suraj Karkera) will be the keepers going to the ACT. So, it’s nice for Pathak to play as the number one (goalkeeper). It’s been obviously really challenging for him in the last eight years, but also, at the same time, he’s grown and we’ve given him lots of opportunity, especially in the last year. He’s done quarters with Sreejesh, so he’s gained over 100 caps, so he’s really experienced. So it’s a positive place for Pathak.
The preparation is difficult because there’s a tournament a month after the Olympics and the celebrations have gone on for two, or three weeks post-Paris. So, it hasn’t been easy, but the tournament is there and we’re going to defend our title. So yeah, we’re going all in.
Q: How have you enjoyed the celebrations? I’m sure this is not the way they do it in countries where you have been coached earlier or in your own country.
Fulton: I think it’s very unique. I think it’s very special. India shares its love for the team because of how proud they were of the team and how close it came. I’m sure they’re glad we got the bronze. They were obviously wanting more, but they’re proud that the team achieved the bronze, which is awesome. And they share that openly. I think at the same time, not every other country has an Olympic legacy as India does, so they wouldn’t share the same kind of emotions as the Indian hockey public and as the Indian nation does, So, it’s just unique. Very, very unique. And it’s very special. Just when you have a tournament a month after the Olympics, it doesn’t make it easy. That’s the challenge (for the boys now).
Q: The players had a two to three-week break. How did you spend that time?
Fulton: I was home for eight, nine days. I’d been away for quite a bit, obviously, this year, so I really needed to connect with my family and I came back for the meeting with the Prime Minister and that was very special. I’ve been back since Saturday. And then we started training on Monday.
Q: So after Paris, the next major target for the team would be the 2026 World Cup, which is less than two years away. So overall, what are areas that the team would be focusing on in the next one-and-half to two years so that we can have a good World Cup?
Fulton: I haven’t really got that far down. We’ve got a tournament starting on the 8th of next month. So, I’m all focused on doing that properly. We’ve got three blocks. We’ve got this tournament, we’ve got Germany coming in October, and there’ll be an overseas tour in November, December where we’ll probably take some younger players and give them all an opportunity. And then we’ll select a core squad and then we’ll start again. The objective is to get ready for the World Cup, but right now we have to get ready for the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT).
Q: You have rested around five players, including Hardik Singh, Mandeep Singh and Lalit Upadhyay etc. So, how do you see the youngsters coming up? Do you feel that we have enough bench strength or do we need to work on that area also?
Fulton: Well, the next three months, we’re going to be working on building some depth in the squad that we have and giving them the opportunities to play. And then we’ll choose our core squad. But these strikers that have been or these players that have been selected now are good enough. They’ve been training well and I look forward to watching them play.
Overall, what’s your aim in the ACT? Is it building your squad for the bigger tournaments or winning the title?
Fulton: Well, we always go to any tournament to win the title. We ranked No.1 in Asia, so we want to go and defend our title. We have a new-look team, but we’ve come off the back of a good campaign in Paris. That’ll be a nice challenge. But we’ve still got some training left that we need to get through and do well and then prep the team so that it’s ready to play its first game against China.
–IANS
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