New Delhi, 28 April (Hindustan Times). Newly appointed Indian men’s hockey team head coach Craig Fulton arrived in India on Friday morning. The 48-year-old South African arrived in New Delhi where he met Hockey-India officials.On Friday evening, he will fly to Bengaluru, where the ongoing national coaching camp is being held at the Sports Authority of India (SAI), Bengaluru. .
Fulton, who was named the head coach of the Indian men’s hockey team by Hockey India in March 2023, has coaching experience of nearly 25 years. He has also worked with the Irish men’s team and the current Olympic Champions Belgium. His rise to fame began with the Irish men’s team as head coach between 2014 and 2018 when the team qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. It was the first Olympic qualification for an Irish team in 100 years. Due to this historic achievement, he was also awarded the Coach of the Year in 2015.
Following this, he served as assistant coach with then-Olympic champions Belgium, where the Belgian team won the gold medal in Tokyo. He was also part of the Belgium coaching staff when the team won the world title in 2018 in Bhubaneswar. He was also named the Belgian Coach of the Year 2023 after coaching the Belgian club that won the Belgian league.
Fulton’s first assignment with the Indian team will be the FIH Men’s Hockey Pro League 2022-2023 in Europe where the team will face Belgium, Great Britain, Netherlands and Argentina in the remainder of the tournament season.
On his arrival in India, Fulton said, “I am really excited to finally be here and looking forward to meeting the team tomorrow. We don’t have much time as the first FIH Hockey Men’s Pro League 2022-23 games are just three weeks away.” It’s still a while away. There are a lot of matches in the next few months to build up for the Asian Games 2023. So I’m really excited and looking forward to getting started.”
Meanwhile, Indian men’s hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh said Fulton’s arrival will instill a new sense of excitement in the team ahead of the FIH Men’s Hockey Pro League 2022-2023.
Harmanpreet said, “We are looking forward to playing under the guidance of our new head coach, Craig Fulton. His arrival ahead of the FIH Men’s Hockey Pro League matches in Europe is a confidence booster for us. The team will continue to focus on our strengths. We will do well in the upcoming tournaments.”
