Fulton had achieved the primary goal in his contemporary job by reserving the ticket to Paris and was clear about the second as effectively.”The target is to attempt to get increased up the pecking order to quantity two or one on the earth within the subsequent six months,” he had instructed Timesofindia.com throughout his scouting tour of Chennai.
Quick ahead 4 months to March 2024. India dropped out of the highest three, to quantity 4. Subsequent month, April, India was quantity 5. 1 / 4 later, in July, Fulton’s workforce was out of prime 5, quantity seven now.
However rankings are by no means a good measuring tape to foretell semifinalists at Olympics and World Cups. If that have been the case, India would have knocked the wind out of New Zealand to thrill the Bhubaneswar crowd on that January Sunday of the 2023 World Cup, however have been left to seem like a looted store on the finish of a wierd shootout, shedding to lower-ranked Black Sticks for a end outdoors the highest eight. Or in that final minute of the heartbreaking draw in opposition to Poland at Sydney 2000, which turned a sure-shot semifinal spot into an AI-generated picture.
It is solely a co-incidence — tad scary, tad haunting — that India’s rivals within the opening pool sport in Paris are New Zealand. The sport might be likened to snorkeling slightly below the floor of water earlier than a deep-sea dive sporting correct scuba tools in opposition to Belgium and nemesis Australia. In between, Argentina and Eire will check how India breathes underneath the cosh.
There are 11 bronze medallists from Tokyo in a squad that continues to be predominantly constructed round Harendra Singh’s 2016 Junior World Cup champions and the advantages of Hockey India League (HIL).
It is seven years for the reason that ball final rolled within the HIL and the availability chain snapped; so it is arguably India’s final honest shot at an Olympic medal with the outdated brigade earlier than a rebuilding section, which is prone to once more coincide with the HIL that Hockey India plans to deliver again at the beginning of 2025.
If the federation manages to drag off HIL 2.0 subsequent January and the league sustains via the subsequent Olympic cycle main as much as Los Angeles 2028, one other core group of gamers with international-standard publicity might be in place, re-establishing the standard provide chain that existed till 2017.
The rebuild may even be required as a result of the workforce’s pillars like PR Sreejesh and Manpreet Singh, each set for his or her fourth Olympics, will not be there in Los Angeles, probably not even on the 2026 World Cup. Actually, the baton of goalkeeping is ready to be handed onto the likes of Krishan Pathak and Suraj Karkera, after Sreejesh confirmed that Paris goes to be his final worldwide look.
The change in command already displays in 5 gamers — Jarmanpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Abhishek, Rajkumar Pal and Sanjay — making their Olympic debut in Paris. However all 5 have already had a good run on the worldwide turf, with defender Sanjay being the least skilled with 35 caps and Jarmanpreet a trusted supply with 98 internationals.
Shored up by Sreejesh within the submit, captain Harmanpreet Singh in defence, Manpreet & Hardik Singh within the center and Mandeep Singh in assault, the workforce’s quintet might be Fulton’s marshals on the sphere over the subsequent two weeks, attempting to execute their coach’s narrative of “assault wins you video games and defence wins you titles”.
Ever since his arrival, Fulton has centered on plugging holes in defence and, when required, parked 9 males behind the 25-yard line to stop any leaks. And like Belgium, with whom Fulton was an assistant coach in World Cup and Olympic triumphs, aerial balls are actually being utilized by India greater than ever earlier than, to each clear the strains in defence and canopy the space in assault.
Curiously, the aerial-pass techniques take a number of the aptitude and ability out of the normal Indian sport that thrives on flying runs down the flanks and centre on counters and changeovers. Prior to now, the technique to clip the wings of naturally free-flowing Indian gamers has performed into the opponents’ fingers. The semifinal of the 2018 Asian Video games in opposition to Malaysia is some extent in reference — a aim conceded whereas sitting in defence throughout the dying levels of the match in Jakarta after which a defeat within the shootout.
The workforce has come of age since then so far as dominating Asia is anxious. However whereas India have gained the Asian Video games and the Asian Champions Trophies with unbeaten runs, getting discovered in opposition to the Europeans and the Australians stays some extent of debate.
It additionally factors on the numbers from the final 10 years that present India beating Australia and Belgium (each in India’s pool at Paris Olympics) solely eight instances every, whereas shedding 33 and 16 instances respectively to the 2 fashionable hockey giants.
On the tour of Australia underneath Fulton in April this yr, India misplaced all 5 video games in Perth. Earlier than that, the Aussies beat India twice in February throughout the FIH Professional League in Odisha.
Extra just lately, India misplaced twice every to Belgium, Germany and Nice Britain throughout their Professional League matches in Antwerp and London in Could.
However that, certainly not, will flip a medal in Paris right into a ‘Ripley’s consider it or not’ episode. Neither will ‘no medal’ make Fulton a Jerry Maguire with a disaster of conscience. He was introduced on board with a watch on the longer term and has put his information and expertise as a former participant and a champion workforce’s (Belgium) coach to make use of in the easiest way doable. However it could’t be denied that India’s efficiency in Paris would be the machine his work and energy to date might be primarily weighed on.
That, nonetheless, does not put the burden of expectations solely on Fulton’s plans. It is the boys on the sphere who must execute these plans and be sure that humpty dumpty does not have an excellent fall and the rankings stay confined to chilly print.
