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South African hockey expert Craig Fulton has been appointed chief coach of the men’s hockey team, Hockey India announced on Friday.
The 48-year-old took over from Australia's Graham Reid, who quit last month following the national team's not-so-encouraging performance at the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup held in Odisha. Fulton is expected to join the team shortly.
“India has a deep history and legacy of the sport and I look forward to working to taking this forward with the current team, which has some very promising talent,” Fulton said in a statement.
Fulton was named Belgium's Coach of the Year in 2023 after guiding the team that won the Belgium Hockey League. The South African hockey expert was also a member of Belgium's national hockey coaching staff that won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Despite having a good coaching profile, whether Fulton can adapt to the Indian conditions and the pressure of winning each and every tournament the national team plays, remains to be seen. Belgium have a more structured grassroots program than India in hockey.
Fulton has a challenging task ahead as the postponed 2022 Asian Games will be held in the latter half of the year. The 2024 Paris Olympic Games qualification and performance in the other major tournaments will matter a lot.
“Indian team's good performance at the Asian Games will certainly reflect Fulton’s expertise to handle the national men’s squad,” a senior hockey coach said.
Reid, former India’s men’s hockey chief coach, also had an impressive profile. He went on to guide the national men’s hockey squad to a historic bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games held in 2021 in Japan due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Australian however, couldn’t motivate the national team for a podium finish at the 2023 Hockey World Cup on home soil. Reid and his coaching staff quit after the Hockey World Cup.
Dilip Tirkey, president of Hockey India, is confident that Fulton’s vast coaching experience would contribute to Indian hockey.
“He (Fulton) comes with tremendous experience in coaching,” Tirkey said. “I welcome Fulton and wish him the best.”
