"I’m privileged to be part of the Indian hockey legacy as a coach in the modern era like all the great coaches who have created this legacy," said Craig Fulton
India head coach Craig Fulton
They say it’s easy to get to the top, but difficult to stay there. In that context, chief coach of the Indian hockey team, Craig Fulton, has done a commendable job of helping the nation retain the Olympic bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Games four year after previous coach Graham Reid ended the country’s 40-year Olympic medal drought at Tokyo 2020.
In an interview with mid-day, Fulton, reveals that his job isn’t done yet, as he now aims to help India succeed at next year’s World Cup [August 14 to 30, 2026 in Wavre, Belgium and Amstelveen, Netherlands], possibly ending a wait that stretches across half-a-century [India have won it’s only World Cup in 1975].
Edited excerpts from an interview
India has had some great coaches across these 100 years. Where do you see yourself among them when it comes to achievements?
I’m privileged to be part of the Indian hockey legacy as a coach in the modern era like all the great coaches who have created this legacy. From the achievements point of view, everyone is judged by what they can do at the Olympics and at a World Cup. At the Olympics, we’ve stood on the podium though we haven’t won gold, but it still is a good achievement. And though I haven’t yet coached an Indian team at a World Cup, that’s coming up next year, so I’m looking forward to that.
Who has been your all-time favourite Indian player?
There have been a lot of great Indian hockey players, but Dhanraj Pillay caught my eye. He played during a very competitive era around the late 90s and early 2000s and was electrifying to watch.
What is that one achievement which you think will complete your career as a successful India coach?
I have already helped India win an Olympic medal. From a World Cup point of view, we would love to stand on the podium next year. In fact, we would love to win this World Cup, that’s one of our goals. But even if we don’t, I still think it’s been a fantastically successful period since I joined, from the Asian perspective, from the Olympics perspective and hopefully, we can stand on the World Cup podium too.
Indian hockey has come a long way in the last 100 years like from consistently failing to make it to the Olympics semi-finals to now winning back-to-back medals at the Games. Where do you see Indian hockey going from here?
Indian hockey is progressing in the right direction. It has adapted well to the era when artificial turf was introduced. From the strength and conditioning side of things, from the audio visual and technology side of things and even from the tactical side of things, Indian hockey has improved greatly. From now on, it’s all about trying to get more talent into the programme. That stems from the grass root development aspect where Hockey India is doing a fantastic job.
How has the Indian hockey fan changed over the years? With more technology at their disposal, are fans more knowledgeable and more demanding too?
The Indian hockey fan will always be passionate. Whether it’s the previous era or the modern era, they just want to see their team win. They want to see attacking hockey, they want to see flair and they want to cheer goals. That will never change. The modern game has changed a bit, making things a lot more tactical, but the guys [fans] we come across or speak to are all genuine hockey lovers and understand these changing tactics. They realise that you can’t always play the same way because it’s challenging to play top teams in only one way. It’s great to have the support of these fans. All they want is goals and so we are always looking to score
more goals for them.
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