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Yuvaraja Karunakaran

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A Look At Craig Fulton's Successful Blueprint For The Indian Hockey Team At The Paris Olympics 2024

A Look At Craig Fulton's Successful Blueprint For The Indian Hockey Team At The Paris Olympics 2024

A look at Craig Fulton's successful blueprint for the Indian hockey team at the Paris Olympics 2024

After the Indian men's hockey team's stunning win over Great Britain in the Paris Olympics 2024, star goalkeeper PR Sreejesh has been the talk of the town. However, coach Craig Fulton's blueprint has been the main reason behind this Indian hockey team's success at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. The veteran Indian goalkeeper had announced that this will be his last tournament and he has been the player to watch out for in Paris. However, another man who deserves credit is India's coach Craig Fulton. His tactics and strategies were spot on during India's quarterfinal against Great Britain. Craig Fulton's plans have been instrumental in withstanding the British team's attacking gameplay despite being a player down and that too their main defender Amit Rohidas.

A look at Craig Fulton's successful blueprint for the Indian hockey team at the Paris Olympics 2024

Star goalkeeper PR Sreejesh has been the talk of the town after the Indian hockey team's stunning win over Great Britain in the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. The veteran Indian goalkeeper had earlier announced that this will be his last tournament and he has been in the form of his life. But it's always interesting to see how the decision-making of a new coach affects a team. However, Craig Fulton's arrival as coach had a great impact on the Indian unit. He completely changed the mindset of the Indian team. Graham Reid who had worked with the legendary Ric Charlesworth, had a completely different playing style for his team. Graham Reid wanted the Indian hockey team to press hard and high in Australian style.

Following the success of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the Indian team's performances declined. Things became even worse at the 2023 World Cup where India failed to reach even the quarterfinals. That brought coach Craig Fulton into the scheme of things. He had an impressive resume, having been the assistant coach to Belgium during their golden run. Fulton completely changed India's playing style and brought in the European-style zonal formation. The focus was on keeping the defensive play intact and not committing too many players forward. Craig Fulton's blueprint has been the game-changer for India at the Paris Olympics 2024.

How Craig Fulton's masterstroke overcame a one-player deficit against Great Britain

In the Paris Olympics 2024 quarterfinal against Great Britain, star India defender Amit Rohidas got a red card in the 17th minute. Things looked gloomy for the Indian hockey team with nearly three-quarters of play remaining. However, India managed to hold Team GB to a 1-1 scoreline. The Indian hockey team reacted quickly to the situation and brought a tactical change to tighten their defence. With a player down, the Harmanpreet Singh-led side knew that they needed reinforcements for their defence battles as India had lost their full-back in Amit, they needed reinforcements for their defence.

Talking about Fulton's tactics, the forwards didn't stay up the pitch but came deep in their own half and only ventured to stop the opponents from easily passing the ball forward or into the pockets. The defenders and midfielders crowded the circle and almost formed a defensive ring. Crucially, they blocked everything coming their way. Even when India pushed forward, they didn't commit too many players up the field. And when Great Britain attacked, the Indian players quickly came towards their circle. The British team was never allowed to pass the ball easily into the circle as Indian players were blocking their passes.

The fact that the defensive play wasn't broken despite their defender Amit Rohidas being out of the game was incredible. This resilience of the Indian defence has been a hallmark of Fulton's plans for the Paris Olympics 2024. It was this defensive grit that stopped Australia in their last Pool match. With PR Sreejesh - the 'wall' in the goalpost and the fabulous skill of Indian attackers, the shootout was always in India's favour. And the result is for all to see. The Indian players executed their defensive strategy perfectly. Craig Fulton's tactics stand vindicated most satisfyingly.

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