First goal to be number one in Asia, says new hockey coach Fulton
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Fulton, who has witnessed the rise of Belgian hockey in the last five years, wants India to first dominate Asian hockey and then move on to the world stage. Fulton, who hails from South Africa, wants India to continue to dominate Asia and then replicate its performance at the world stage.
It has been just over two weeks since Craig Fulton took over as India’s men’s hockey team head coach but his goals are clear – to make India the number one team in Asia and qualify for next year’s Paris Olympics. Fulton, who has witnessed the rise of Belgian hockey in the last five years, wants India to first dominate Asian hockey and then move on to the world stage. Fulton, who hails from South Africa, wants India to continue to dominate Asia and then replicate its performance at the world stage.
Fulton said in a virtual media conference, “I want to make India the number one team in Asia.” It is certainly one of the goals that we want to achieve. We want to continue to be where we are and then move forward. If you are ranked fourth or fifth in the world rankings, you have to make consistent efforts to reach the top. “And when you have enough experience and have a strategy that suits all players,” he added. You definitely try to reach the final and want to win it.
Fulton was the head coach of the Ireland team from 2014 to 2018 when the team qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics. It was the first time in over a hundred years that an Irish hockey team played in the Olympics. He was also voted the best coach of the year 2015 for this. He was also the assistant coach of Olympic champions Belgium which won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. He was also on the coaching staff of the Belgium team that won the 2018 World Cup in Bhubaneswar. Fulton said, “Our priority is to qualify for the Paris Olympics through the Asian Games. This is our first priority.
The FIH Pro League, the Four Nations tournament in Spain and then the Asian Champions Trophy will definitely put us in a position to qualify directly for the Olympics.” Fulton is confident of the Indian team’s success. He said, “Our team is not the best but very good. We need to work on some areas but at the same time our team presents a tough challenge and hence there are many teams who do not like to play us.
He will make his innings with the Indian team through the Europe leg of the FIH Pro League starting on 26 May. India have to play Belgium and Britain in London and Argentina and Netherlands in Netherlands. The coach said, “The Pro League matches in India have given us confidence. The strategy changed a bit after the World Cup but I wasn’t there so can’t comment on that. The Indian team performed brilliantly to win a bronze in Tokyo but could not replicate that performance in the World Cup. The team is on a comeback trail after winning the Pro League and the Asian Champions Trophy.
Disclaimer:IndiaTheNews has not edited this news. This news has been published from PTI-language feed.
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