India defeated China in their Hockey Asia Cup opener after being put under the pump. Captain Harmanpreet Singh scored a hat trick as India scraped through a 4-3 win over the Chinese side. India coach Craig Fulton spoke on the team’s performance following the win.
India hockey head coach Craig Fulton reacted to India’s close win over China in their Hockey Asia Cup opener on Friday. Captain Harmanpreet Singh scored a hat trick as India overcame the tough Chinese challenge 4-3 at Rajgir, Bihar.ย
The Indians were put under the pump as China ran them for money and kept them on their toes throughout the fixture. All of India’s goals came through penalty corners as they could not find the back of the net through field play.ย
Speaking on the win, Fulton broke through India’s performance, stating that while he is happy to get the win under the belt, he knows the team did not play as expected. “First half was good, we got into good positions and then made some mistakes, but we always had another gear to get to. It’s nice that in the second half we got some PCs and converted. Not to score the stroke was unfortunate,” Fulton said in the post-match interaction.
“We played well enough to win the game, but we didn’t play to our expectations. The first hurdle was a good hurdle. There was a lot of fight in our team, which was nice to see,ย but we missed a few chances and we conceded a few soft goals as well,” Fulton added.
Fulton highlighted that it was crucial to get the points,ย but the team needs to improve in certain areas. He stated that they don’t want to take any team lightly.
“What was important was to get the three points, and we did that. Well, I expect a fight from any team. We are the highest-ranked team and favourites here, so every team is going to lift themselves to play us and we have to manage that challenge,” Fulton said.
“I have seen a lot of games when you don’t play well but you win, and that’s what is important, getting the win.”