Asian Champions Trophy 2023: Head coach Craig Fulton said - Indian hockey team is not far from 'perfect finishing'

Indian hockey team head coach Craig Fulton admitted that the penalty corner conversion rate was poor in their Asian Champions Trophy 2023 match against Japan but said that his team is not far away from perfect finishing.

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The Indian team could only manage one goal from 15 penalty corners against Japan and the match ended in 1-1. In the first match of Asian Champions Trophy 2023, India beat China by 7-2 and six goals came from penalty corners. Craig Fulton said in the press conference after the match, if he is not able to capitalize on the opportunities, then it is a matter of concern for every coach.

"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." Fulton said at the post-match press conference.

Fulton praised Japan for their excellent defense and said, "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."

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However, Fulton gave due credit to the Japanese for defending well and making India toil to attain success through corners and even field goals. "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.

It was also noted against Japan that the Indians mainly focused on gaining the penalty corners inside the box. They refrained from taking regular shots at the goal. However, Fulton backed his players to decide at that given point in time and was delighted that his side won several corners and creating enough goal-scoring chances.