India’s Asia Cup Hockey lessons: Over-reliance on Harman, defensive gaps and Fulton’s masterclass

The narrative for the men’s hockey Asia Cup was very clear. The incentive of a World Cup qualification carried more value than the Asian crown. No doubt it’s a historic feat to be the first team to wear the Asian Games, Asian Champions Trophy and the Asia Cup gold medals simultaneously, and winning tournaments helps establish authority, but that’s more of a headline material when the underlying theme is confirming a World Cup spot and avoiding the stress of qualifiers.

Imagine a team having to prepare for the World Cup qualifiers for the next six months, and then start thinking of preparing for the tournament-proper if they qualify. But with that monkey off the back, India now have a full year to study opponents and train accordingly. That makes a world of difference to the preparations of a team that hopes to end a 50-year wait for another World Cup title.

Also Read | How India turned the tables on Korea to book hockey World Cup spot

That’s why India’s start to the Asia Cup raised doubts that it may not be as straightforward as it looked on paper, when China and Japan gave the hosts a run for their money. That’s when India’s hero of the tournament emerged in the form of Harmanpreet Singh.

At the start of the Asia Cup, the teams not only had to beat the opposition but also the heat and humidity in the host city of Rajgir in Bihar. It made penalty corners more important, because that allowed the players mini breathers and to get their thoughts together before setting up castles at the top of the striking circles. And that’s where those two games were decided.

India captain Harmanpreet’s hat-trick against China and a brace versus Japan proved to be the difference in the 4-3 and 3-2 wins, respectively, in matches that started under a scorching sun at 3 pm local time.

The 29-year-old star defender’s drag-flicks went a little quiet in the next five games, where he added only two more goals to his final tally. But his influence on the field-plays rose towards the business end of the tournament – highlighted by his pin-pointed aerials in the opponents’ striking circle and moments like the dodge and quick release that set up a goal in just 31 seconds from the start of the final against South Korea.

Harmanpreet’s dominance is  heartening, dependence on him is worrying

The inference from Harmanpreet’s dominance also points to the team’s dependence on the skipper. Taking the mind back to the European leg of the Pro League earlier this year, a hand injury to Harmanpreet forced him to sit out. He missed five of the eight matches on that tour. India lost seven of those. It’s not to conclude that it was the only reason for India’s losing run, but it does highlight that when Harmanpreet is in charge and in form, India look a different outfit.

It also speaks volumes about Harmanpreet’s resolve and comeback since the 2023 World Cup, where India lost to New Zealand in the crossovers and the ball almost refused to fly off his stick on penalty corners. But he took that setback on the chin and returned to be a force dominant like never before – as the Pro League’s top scorer, winning his second FIH Player of the Year award in 2024, winning the Asian Games and leading India to another Olympic bronze in Paris.

But it can’t be ignored that the team’s reliance on Harmanpreet needs to be looked at by coach Craig Fulton – a fact that also got highlighted when Jugraj Singh stepped up to take a penalty stroke in the absence of substituted Harmanpreet, but failed to beat the Korean goalkeeper in the final.

The reassuring Sukhjeet

It’s not that the 28-year-old Sukhjeet Singh is a find, but the striker’s consistency for the length of an entire tournament certainly is. The Paris Olympics bronze medallist has already completed over a hundred international caps (107), and the way he grew with the Asia Cup over the 10 days didn’t go unnoticed.

Also Read | How Rajgir Sports Complex is redefining Bihar’s place on Indian sporting map

For the record, he scored six goals, and it was his link-up with fellow forwards and the midfield that set the tone of India’s attack, which looked more incisive whenever Abhishek, Dilpreet Singh and Mandeep Singh synced up with Sukhjeet to cut defensive structures in half. Abhishek, who had an off day against South Korea in the ‘Super 4s’, scored six goals as well, while Dilpreet rose to the occasion in the title clash, scoring two of his four tournament goals in the final against the Koreans.

Fulton’s coaching continues to impress

India remain unbeaten against the Asian teams since May 2022, which is a year before Fulton replaced Australian Graham Reid after the 2023 World Cup debacle.

Fulton, a former South African player, came to India with an impressive resume – having taken Ireland to the Olympics (Rio 2016) for the first time in 108 years and having spent five years assisting Belgium coach Shane McClead. It included the period when Belgium won the World Cup (2018), Olympic gold (2021) and a World Cup silver (2023).

He, therefore, knew how to play his coaching cards; and once he understood how to handle diverse cultural backgrounds in the Indian team and had the players’ confidence, he started acing the game.

The moment that defines Fulton as a street-smart coach is not the medals he has won with India, not even the Olympics bronze, but the quarter-final of the Paris Games against Great Britain – when India were left with 10 players for 43 minutes after Amit Rohidas was red-carded in the 17th minute. To draw an Olympic knockout game with only 10 men available for almost three quarters is one of the most iconic events in modern hockey’s history, which is talked about so little.

That game not just defines Fulton as a coach but also the character that he has managed to draw from the core of this current team.

Midfield sorted, a few question marks over defence

The World Cup, which begins on August 15, 2026, is less than a year away now. While the upcoming Junior World Cup may throw up a few contenders, India can’t have a better and more experienced midfield marshals than former captain Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh and Vivek Sagar Prasad.

While Manpreet, with his 409 caps to date, has the experience India will need at a stage as big as the World Cup, Hardik’s skills and spark can inspire the entire team. Vivek, besides his craft as a playmaker, gives a quality option as first rusher on penalty-corner defence in case Rohidas is in the dug-out substituted. Then there is right-half Jarmanpreet Singh, who has turned into a reliable shepherd in the middle of the pitch, with a knack for finding unmarked men with his hard slap-push from the flanks.

The Harmanpreet-led defence is where Fulton may have to do some repair work and find more options, with Jugraj and Sanjay, who has lately been pushed up as an attacking midfielder, not living up to the consistency standards expected by the team’s think-tank. That’s why the coming Junior World Cup becomes an important stage for the youngsters, especially defenders and goalkeepers, to perform and knock on the senior door.

Overall, the footnote to India’s Asia Cup triumph is that while the Asian territory is firmly under control, the European and Australian soils are where the effectiveness of India’s talent continues to be tested. Where we reach on that front in the coming season will be a curtain raiser to the World Cup.

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