“It’s a must-win game against Malaysia”: India coach Craig Fulton

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], August 12 (ANI): India men’s hockey team head coach Craig Fulton said that their Asian Championship final encounter against Malaysia is a must-win game for them on Saturday.

India registered a thumping 5-0 victory against Japan in their semifinal encounter on Friday. While Malaysia also hammered Korea to seal their place in the final with a 6-2 victory. 

In the post-match conference, Craig Fulton was pleased with the way his team performed and executed the plan but he said that the final will be a must-win game for them. 

“It was a really good performance tonight it was pleasing from what we planned to do to what we did now we recover and go again tomorrow,” Fulton said. 

“Like I said previously we will finish this tournament and we will do a full assessment of where we are at. It is nice to play all the Asian teams that are in the pool. It is a must-win game against Malaysia. It is really important for us,” Fulton added. 

Meanwhile, on winning the semi-finals of the Asian Champions Trophy, Indian Hockey player Sumit said, “It is not just because of my goal that we won, it is the entire team’s contribution…Winning the finals is more important & we will focus on that…”

Coming to the match, after a nervy start to the game, the hosts slowly gained control of the game. An early penalty corner gave India an opportunity to go one in front. Skipper Harmanpreet Singh’s drag flick was met by Japan’s goalkeeper and they replied with a swift counterattack to put the Blues in trouble. The final shot was a whisker away from the post. 

A minute later, forward Shamsher Singh was shown a green card and he had to sit out for the next two minutes. Both sides pressed hard for a goal but the first quarter ended on level terms. 

The second quarter began in Japan’s favour as India made a mistake but Japan failed to punish them. Akashdeep Singh made Japan pay by scoring the first goal of the game with a field goal. 

The Indian team smelled blood and they pounced quickly to strike twice before the halftime whistle. A drag flick from Harmanpreet got India their second goal of the game, while a superb hit from Mandeep made the scoreline 3-0.

India came out all guns blazing to begin the third quarter on a strong note. Sumit made a magical run inside the striking circle to put the ball past the keeper in the 39th minute of the game.

Karthi Selvam made it five for India in the 51st minute after Sukhjeet Singh’s pass from inside the circle.