Indian men's hockey chief coach Craig Fulton on Friday said that the same team will play in this year's FIH World Cup and Asian Games, dismissing suggestions that two different squads will represent the country due to the close proximity of the two important events. He insisted that he will have one squad and the selections will “based around that”.
As the World Cup and the Asian Games are just three weeks apart, there was speculation that India is planning to field two different teams to manage player fitness and workload. While the World Cup will be held in Belgium and the Netherlands from August 15 to 30, the Asian Games, which is an Olympic qualifier, is scheduled to be held in Japan from September 19 till October 4. “No, we are going to have one squad and we are going to base it around that," Fulton said on the sidelines of the eighth Hockey India Annual Awards here on Friday.
Fullton said it is to some extent unfair for the Asian teams to play both the important tournaments in such close proximity but insisted that India have already put in place plans to manage both the events.
“It is difficult because the Asian teams that play the World Cup have also to play the Asian Games. It's a tough ask because if you say that to any of the European teams you play the World Cup and few weeks later you play the European Championships and that's the qualifier for Los Angeles Olympics, they would say no ways we are not playing but it's just our situation. That's why 14-15 months ago we started the India A team and we have been building depth in our squad so that we can cover two tournaments. So it’s all part of our plan,” the chief coach, who guided India to back-to-back Olympic bronze medals, said.
The South African said what is the need of the hour is to strike a balance and India had already started their transition plans after the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“The cycle works around Olympics, World Cup and Asian Games in priority, so it's really important. The Asian Games is also important so you don't just win the World Cup if you don't qualify (for Olympics) and just focus on the Asian Games, so it's a fine margin between the two. Every tournament we go to we try to win it. But now we have some work to do because we are ranked 8th in the world. We know the FIH Pro League hasn't gone well for us but we judge ourselves after the World Cup, Asian Games and Olympics,” Fulton said.
Also read: Hundred years of Indian hockey and the making of champions
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