India showcase better fitness and intensity to beat Korea 3-2 in Asian Champions Trophy hockey | Hockey News

Chennai: To say the Asian Champions Trophy has been gruelling on players would be a massive understatement. In what is a second summer in Chennai, where afternoon temperatures have been touching 40 degree Celsius in certain pockets, it has tested the players to the core. With humidity too on the higher side and breeze non-exent, teams have been struggling to maintain intensity.
In such extreme conditions, just weeks ahead of the Hangzhou Asian Games, Korea have endured three back-to-back 4:15 pm starts. Malaysia, who played the late evening game against India, which they lost 0-5, had only a 16-hour turnaround before they faced Japan in Monday’s first game.
In comparison, hosts India have had the luxury of not just playing all their matches at 8:15 pm, in the company of a slight breeze, but have also got enough recovery time for their players. every passing outing, it is becoming increasingly visible that India, as head coach Craig Fulton mentioned, are peaking in terms of their fitness and intensity levels as they defeated Korea 3-2 in their fourth league match at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium.
For a team that is learning to fit into Fulton’s tactics, they couldn’t have asked for a more favourable scheduling. After choosing to use the tournament as a dress rehearsal for the Asian Games, India are not wasting the opportunity. As midfielder Nilakanta Sharma had mentioned, during the Four- Nation event in Barcelona last month, the team appeared puzzled at times, with midfielders especially caught in no-man’s land as they were yet to fully embrace Fulton’s defence-first approach.
It had led to some confusion as under Fulton, all players have been given dual roles to play depending on whether they were on the offence or sitting back to defend. Although fatigue had undermined their performance in the first two games, for the second consecutive night India showed they can dream about winning gold at the Asiad and booking a direct Paris Olympics ticket.
While defending is Fulton’s first priority, the core of his coaching style is built on the midfielders. When India go forward, the defensive midfielders are supposed to don the hat of an attacking midfielder and when the opponents have the ball, the attacking midfielders have to turn into DMs. Having allotted dual roles to each player, and taken out the full-press that India were so used to under Fulton’s predecessor Graham Reid, they are now beginning to get used to this new style of play. Instead of pressing hard when the opponents have the ball, they get to positions where they can close down the spaces.
Work in progress
Of course, they are far from being in the right positions at all times, like the occasion when they let Kim Sunghyon score providing him acres of space to shoot. Even towards the end of the match, there were some nervy moments, with the midfielders appearing out of position as Korea picked up pace, only for their finishing to be erroneous. Jihun Yang pulld one back in the 58th minute, but they fell short in the end.
But barring such exceptions, there is enough reason for Fulton to be encouraged that this team would adapt to this style. In midfield, apart from Nilakanta, Hardik Singh and Vivek Sagar Prasad have been efficient when it comes to not just going forward on the charge, but also how they track back the moment India lose the ball.
With Jarmanpreet Singh and Manpreet Singh providing solid cover to the backline, even the defenders are showing more composure in the circle. And none illustrated it better than Sumit in the first quarter. Having managed to steal the ball inside the circle in a crowded space, not once did he look in a hurry to clear it away. Having picked the ball right under the goalkeeper’s nose, he dribbled it along the backline and even completed a 360 degree turn that let the crowd voice its appreciation.
Up front, it was yet another game where India would have hoped their conversion rates improved. Although their missed opportunities didn’t have a huge bearing on the match, it could bite them badly in big tournaments.
Having got off the mark through Nilakanta’s goal when he guided the ball home from close range. The second, which helped India take the lead for the second time came via a penalty corner, with Mandeep Singh getting on the scoresheet. It was an evening when India converted just one of the four penalty corners they earned. The captain also missed a penalty stroke in the final quarter.
Mandeep Singh scored the third, this one a nicely-constructed field goal which raised prospects of another big Indian win.
Results: Japan 1-3 Malaysia, Pakan 2-1 China, India 3-2 Korea