Fulton pleased with Indian hockey team’s defence at Paris Olympics

New Delhi: To watch the Indian men’s hockey team embrace a new philosophy aimed at strengthening its defense and finally find it paying off at the Paris Olympic Games in the form of a bronze medal, was an incredibly rewarding experience, head coach Craig Fulton said on Wednesday.

It was broadly recognized that the primary weakness of the Indian hockey team, both historically and currently, has been its defense. The strikers and midfielders traditionally focused on attacking.

However, this shifted with Fulton’s appointment in March last year. A prime example of this change was the Indian team’s courageous defensive performance in the quarterfinal against Britain, where they held a formidable opponent to a 1-1 draw despite being down to 10 men for nearly 40 minutes. “I was pleased with defence for coming in with a new philosophy and trying to get guys to buy into it. And you know, once they started to see it bear fruit that we could stay in game for longer,” Fulton told PTI. However, without key defender Amit Rohidas, the Indian team faltered against a high-scoring Germany, losing the opportunity to reach the Paris Olympic final. India had lost 0-5 to Australia in a Test series, the result

which seemed demotivating but Fulton remained unperturbed.