‘Defend to win, hunt on counterattack’: Hockey team’s mantra for Paris – Times of India
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NEW DELHI: Indian men’s hockey team has spelt out its success mantra for the Paris Olympics – defend to win, hunt for goals on counterattack and concede fewer penalty corners.
The team tasted success at the Hangzhou Asian Games riding on head coach Craig Fulton’s gameplan and the Harmanpreet Singh-led side would like to continue with the same attacking mindset in Paris to finish on the podium. It was after a gap of 41 years that Indian hockey had claimed an Olympic medal – bronze – at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
“Our motto under Fulton has been ‘defend to win’. The system of defending and scoring through counterattacks worked for us during the Asian Games and we will continue to rely on the same tactics,” Harmanpreet told TOI.
“Conceding too many penalty corners is dangerous for any team due to the emergence of drag-flick specialists in world hockey. The team has been training to shore up our penalty corner defence and sharpen our attack with variations while also analysing the routines of our opponents to give us an advantage over other teams in penalty corners,” the skipper added.
During the Australia series as well as the London and Antwerp stages of FIH Pro League season 2023-’24, India conceded several penalty corners to hand over the advantage to their opponents. Fulton said the team has extensively worked on that area.
“We can’t give away easy penalty corners to our opponents. We have directed our efforts on analysing the penalty corners of other teams in order to gain an advantage in this area. Without giving away too much on our tactics, I would like to emphasise that the team has worked on the areas we were lacking in during previous outings. We are prepared to fire on all cylinders in Paris.”
“While the players have all the freedom to express themselves when attacking, I believe that a cohesive defensive unit can thwart any opposition in the world. In addition to working on our defensive structures, we have paid significant attention to our penalty corner defence and attack as these areas can change the game in an instant,” Fulton added.
The Indian team has been grouped in a tough ‘Pool B’ and will begin its Paris journey with a match against New Zealand on July 27, followed by a match against Argentina on July 29. The side will then face Ireland and Belgium on July 30 and Aug 1, respectively. The final group stage game will be against Australia on Aug 2. A top-4 finish will ensure that India advances to the knockout stages.
“Pool B has some formidable teams but we would like to focus on ourselves rather than worry about the opposition. We will take it one game at a time. Ever since our bronze medal in Tokyo, we have dreamed of changing the colour of the medal in Paris. We will enter the tournament with this mindset. We know the competition will be fierce. Any team in the Olympics can beat the other on its day. We have improved as a team in this Olympic cycle and we also have fresh talent emerging over the last two-three years. We have a very balanced team with the experience of playing in high stakes matches. We are excited and eager to begin the campaign,” Harmanpreet said.
The team tasted success at the Hangzhou Asian Games riding on head coach Craig Fulton’s gameplan and the Harmanpreet Singh-led side would like to continue with the same attacking mindset in Paris to finish on the podium. It was after a gap of 41 years that Indian hockey had claimed an Olympic medal – bronze – at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
“Our motto under Fulton has been ‘defend to win’. The system of defending and scoring through counterattacks worked for us during the Asian Games and we will continue to rely on the same tactics,” Harmanpreet told TOI.
“Conceding too many penalty corners is dangerous for any team due to the emergence of drag-flick specialists in world hockey. The team has been training to shore up our penalty corner defence and sharpen our attack with variations while also analysing the routines of our opponents to give us an advantage over other teams in penalty corners,” the skipper added.
During the Australia series as well as the London and Antwerp stages of FIH Pro League season 2023-’24, India conceded several penalty corners to hand over the advantage to their opponents. Fulton said the team has extensively worked on that area.
“We can’t give away easy penalty corners to our opponents. We have directed our efforts on analysing the penalty corners of other teams in order to gain an advantage in this area. Without giving away too much on our tactics, I would like to emphasise that the team has worked on the areas we were lacking in during previous outings. We are prepared to fire on all cylinders in Paris.”
“While the players have all the freedom to express themselves when attacking, I believe that a cohesive defensive unit can thwart any opposition in the world. In addition to working on our defensive structures, we have paid significant attention to our penalty corner defence and attack as these areas can change the game in an instant,” Fulton added.
The Indian team has been grouped in a tough ‘Pool B’ and will begin its Paris journey with a match against New Zealand on July 27, followed by a match against Argentina on July 29. The side will then face Ireland and Belgium on July 30 and Aug 1, respectively. The final group stage game will be against Australia on Aug 2. A top-4 finish will ensure that India advances to the knockout stages.
“Pool B has some formidable teams but we would like to focus on ourselves rather than worry about the opposition. We will take it one game at a time. Ever since our bronze medal in Tokyo, we have dreamed of changing the colour of the medal in Paris. We will enter the tournament with this mindset. We know the competition will be fierce. Any team in the Olympics can beat the other on its day. We have improved as a team in this Olympic cycle and we also have fresh talent emerging over the last two-three years. We have a very balanced team with the experience of playing in high stakes matches. We are excited and eager to begin the campaign,” Harmanpreet said.
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