Chief Coach Craig Fulton believes the Indian men’s hockey team can turn the disappointment of its eighth-place finish at the FIH Hockey World Cup into valuable lessons as it begins its campaign to defend its Asian Games gold medal in Japan.
With the Asian Games 2026 just around the corner, the Harmanpreet Singh-led Indian side has already arrived in Japan and is fine-tuning its preparations for Sunday’s opening match against Indonesia. The tournament carries added importance, with the gold medal also securing direct qualification for the LA 2028 Olympics.
India began its Asian Games preparations with a bonding camp near Mount Fuji, an experience Fulton believes helped the players shift their focus from individual pursuits to the team as a whole.
“We didn’t have much time between the World Cup and the Asian Games, but we are really excited to get going again,” Fulton said. “Starting it with a difficult but very, very enlightening experience where you go to a different part of the world where we’ve not all been together before and experience something like that, it just helps the guys really focus on the team and not just the individual pursuit.”
The camp also provided the team an opportunity to regroup after a World Cup campaign that fell short of its expectations. Rather than dwelling on the result, Fulton said the squad has identified the areas that need improvement and is now focused on putting those lessons into practice.
“We are very, very privileged to do what we do; and it’s the gratitude for having this opportunity,” he said. “Regarding what happened during the World Cup, we have identified what we need to focus on more coming into this tournament. We’re able to go straight into it and focus on those improvements and then do it as a team.”
India will enter the Asian Games with a slightly changed squad, with Raj Kumar Pal coming in for Aditya Arjun Lalage. For Fulton, however, the emphasis remains firmly on moving forward.
India had ambitions of going deep into the World Cup but eventually finished eighth. Fulton said the team has addressed the shortcomings and is now determined to translate its learnings into performances on the field.
“These are lessons, and the only way to treat them as lessons learned is to turn that learning into action,” Fulton said. “We’ve discussed everything, gone through everything and highlighted areas needing improvement. At the same time, it’s now about action after all the training we’re doing as we line up for our first game on Sunday.”
One of the challenges India could face during the pool stage is maintaining intensity against teams it is expected to dominate. With the knockout rounds carrying significantly greater stakes, building momentum and ensuring the team peaks at the right time will be crucial.
Fulton, however, insists India will approach every opponent with the same level of commitment.
“All respect to whoever we play. The only way to truly respect the opposition is by giving 100%,” he said. “That’s what we’ve done, and that’s what we’ll continue to do in all the tournaments.”
The 2026 Asian Games also offer India an opportunity to make history. Having won gold at the 2023 Asian Games, the Indian men’s team now has a chance to become the first Indian hockey side to successfully defend the Asian Games title.
Fulton acknowledged that the context is different this time around. In 2023, India had competed at the Asian Champions Trophy on home soil shortly before the Asian Games, giving the team recent experience against several of its Asian rivals. This time, the World Cup has been the team’s major competitive reference point heading into the continental tournament.
“I think it’s very different. It’s still the Asian Games, but it’s just a totally different context,” Fulton said. “We had played all those Asian teams before we played the Asian Games (in 2023). Now we’ve played the World Cup before the Asian Games.”
Despite the changed circumstances and the weight of history, the Indian coach is keen to keep the team’s approach simple: focus on the next match and control what can be controlled.
“We take it as one game at a time, and we’ve got all our focus on ourselves, not really worrying about anyone else,” Fulton said. “We want to try and top our pool, and that is our first goal.”
With Sunday’s opener against Indonesia marking the beginning of India’s title defence, the message from the coaching staff is clear: the World Cup is now a lesson, not a lingering setback. The task ahead is to turn those lessons into action and begin the journey towards another Asian Games gold.
