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Mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton has been roped in to assist the Indian men’s hockey team at the upcoming Paris Olympics 2024. The South African was a part of the national men’s cricket team that won the World Cup in 2011 after beating Sri Lanka in the final.
Upton will be a part of the hockey team’s support staff. Craig Fulton, the men’s coach, confirmed the development to PTI.
The veteran was also there during India’s campaign in the Asian Games and the Asian Champions Trophy.
“We have Paddy Upton; he will be with us in Australia (for the Test series). We will be using him wisely. For sure, he will be there for the Olympics with us,” Fulton was quoted as saying by PTI.
"We are trying to create some depth in different positions" - Craig Fulton
Back in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, India, led by Manpreet Singh, won the bronze medal. It also happened to be India’s first medal at the mega event in 41 years. With India ranked No. 4 in the world, they are eager to develop further and climb higher in the rankings charts.
“We are not complete yet, but in 4-5 months from the Olympics, we will be there,” he said.
“Ideally, any high-performing team wants to win any tournament. That’s the ideal goal: to be realistic. But realistically, we are ranked fourth in the world now; does that mean podium ‘right now? No,’ but that’s the beauty of hockey,” Fulton continued.
“We are in a development phase with the squad. We are trying to create some depth in different positions. That’s important to do now because it really counts in crunch matches in the Olympics,” Fulton added.
India are next scheduled to lock horns with Australia in a five-match Test series in Perth from April 2 to 15.
India will start their Paris Olympics campaign on Saturday, July 27, against New Zealand. India also have Belgium, Australia and Ireland in their pool.
