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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 the 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 in 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 Pro League, where they suffered defeats in the 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 we were not as efficient as with PCs 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 and 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 the experienced players and not newcomers.
“We had a big squad, 24 (in Australia tour). Some younger players came into the squad so they needed games. So the first two games was about giving opportunity to younger players and game 3 and 4 was selection for the Asia Cup. It was competitive,” said the Zimbabwe-born.
“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)
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