Although he was not quite happy with the Indian men’s hockey team’s performance against the unimpressive China in their Asia Cup opening, head coach Craig Fulton emphasized that a victorious start was the most crucial thing.
World No. 7 India struggled to a 4-3 victory in their opening match after appearing lackluster and being forced to work hard against 23rd-ranked China.
“First half was good, we got into good positions and then did some mistakes but we always had another gear to get to. It’s nice that in the second half we got some PCs and converted. Not to score the stroke was unfortunate,” Fulton said in the post-match interaction.
In the second half, India captain Harmanpreet Singh missed a penalty stroke but converted three penalty corners.
“We played well enough to win the game but we didn’t play to our expectations. The first hurdle was a good hurdle. There was lot of fight in our team which was nice to see but we missed a few chances and we conceded a few soft goals as well,” Fulton said.
Even though the outcome went their way, Fulton stated that his team still needs to improve in a number of areas.
“What was important was to get the three points and we did that.”
The South African made it clear that it would be a mistake to undervalue any of the tournament’s teams, which was evident on Friday.
“Well I expect fight from any team. We are the highest ranked team and favourites here, so every team is going to lift themselves to play us and we have to manage that challenge,” Fulton said.
“I have seen a lot of games when you don’t play well but you win and that’s what is important getting the win.”
There were several lessons to be learned from the match versus China, according to Harmanpreet.
“It was a tough match but winning was important. Till the last whistle we fought. It’s a good lesson for us,” he said.
He emphasized that they must be vigilant defensively.
“Most of the team here prefer to sit back, play deep and wait for counters. That’s a good lesson for us, to make sure that our defensive line is strong.”
