Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], August 5 (ANI): Indian males’s hockey head coach Craig Fulton mentioned that his workforce’s penalty nook conversion price within the drawn match towards Japan is troubling, however assured that his squad isn’t removed from ending issues flawlessly.
The Indian males’s hockey workforce and Japan got here up with an entertaining 1-1 draw within the ongoing Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023 right here on the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium on Friday. Harmanpreet Singh (43′) was the lone objective scorer for India whereas Ken Nagayoshi (28′) gave Japan a positive begin.
Riding on their splendid 7-2 victory towards China within the marketing campaign opener, India regarded for yet one more victory however a decided Japan performed with nice tenacity to maintain the hosts in verify.Though the reigning Asian Games Champions Japan received off the blocks with the best tempo to construct strain on the hosts within the first quarter, India did effectively to win back-to-back PCs early within the sport.
“It’s every coach’s concern if you are not converting your chances, whether corners or field goals. So, you always try to work out ‘why?’ and try to find a solution for that and combinations of players together,” India head coach Fulton mentioned on the post-match press convention.
“It’s not that we are not playing in our system. We are playing the way we want to play, and even tonight (Friday), we had two-three really good counters. We are one phase away from finishing the way we want to,” mentioned the India head coach.
Fulton trusted his gamers to make the best choice on the proper second and was happy that his workforce gained a number of corners and created sufficient scoring possibilities.
“It’s situational. We want our players to shoot. They have the license to shoot. They make the next best decision on instinct about what’s in front of them, and we back that. The fact that we are winning a lot of corners is good. We have had a few shots. But we are still in the tournament. Wegot a draw out of this game,” Fulton added.
“Of course, we wanted to win it and had enough chances. It’s not a nice feeling, but we have got to get better and be ready for the next game,” mentioned the India head coach.
However, Fulton credited the Japanese for defending effectively and forcing India to work onerous to attain success by corners and even discipline targets.
“Japan defended and attacked well. They were moving well. At half-time, we regrouped. We showed in the following quarters how we got back into the game. They also defended their penalty corners well. We didn’t convert (our corners), but not for the lack of trying. It’s a good lesson, and we will go again,” he added. (ANI)