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According to Craig Fulton, permutations surrounding India’s qualification for the semifinals also affected the team’s performance.
India’s head coach Craig Fulton reacts after team’s exit from Men’s Hockey World Cup 2026. (Picture Credit: X/@TheHockeyIndia)
Indian men’s hockey team head coach Craig Fulton admitted his team’s slow start and inability to handle the pressure of a must-win game proved costly as they missed out on a place in the World Cup semifinals in Amstelveen on Monday.
“It was a difficult day today. We didn’t want to end like that. We started poorly, but the second quarter was much better. The third quarter wasn’t good, but then we scored three goals in the last quarter and could have scored the fourth one too from a corner,” Fulton said after the 3-5 loss to Argentina.
“Overall, it was a really strange game. We played at a high level in tournament, but in the big games we have to do better,” he added.
He also said the permutations surrounding India’s qualification for the semifinals had affected the team’s performance.
“There were a lot of permutations going into this game that got the better of us. In the last 10 minutes, we played better hockey. That was a little too late,” he said.
Forward Sukhjeet Singh, who scored twice, blamed defensive lapses for India’s setback in their last opportunity to make the semifinals.
“This was our last opportunity to reach the semifinals, but we committed silly mistakes in defence and they converted them into goals. We gave them easy chances which could have been avoided,” Sukhjeet said.
“We conceded a goal in the first minute, which created pressure. We tried to bounce back, but that early blow was not easy to overcome. We were lazy at the start and we have to work on that.”
Sukhjeet said India’s penalty corners had been effective throughout the tournament but the defense was sloppy against Argentina.
“Overall, our penalty corner was good throughout the tournament. Our strikers managed to score a few field goals, but we committed mistakes in defence,” he said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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Ask News18India’s head coach, Craig Fulton, stated that the team’s slow start and inability to handle pressure in a must-win game contributed to their exit from the World Cup semifinals. He also mentioned that the permutations surrounding their qualification affected the team’s performance.
Ask News18About the Author
Harshit Bisht is a sports journalist at CNN-News18, where he has been covering cricket, football, and major sporting events from around the world since July 1, 2024. Driven by a passion for storytelli…Read More
August 25, 2026, 07:59 IST
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