'We would love to win this World Cup': Indian hockey team head coach Fulton

They say itrsquos easy to get to the top but difficult to stay there In that context chief coach of the Indian hockey team Craig Fulton has done a commendable job of helping the nation retain the Olympic bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Games four year after previous coach Graham Reid ended the countryrsquos 40year Olympic medal drought at Tokyo 2020In an interview with midday Fulton reveals that his job isnrsquot done yet as he now aims to help India succeed at next yearrsquos World Cup August 14 to 30 2026 in Wavre Belgium and Amstelveen Netherlands possibly ending a wait that stretches across halfacentury India have won itrsquos only World Cup in 1975Edited excerpts from an interviewIndia has had some great coaches across these 100 years Where do you see yourself among them when it comes to achievementsIrsquom privileged to be part of the Indian hockey legacy as a coach in the modern era like all the great coaches who have created this legacy From the achievements point of view everyone is judged by what they can do at the Olympics and at a World Cup At the Olympics wersquove stood on the podium though we havenrsquot won gold but it still is a good achievement And though I havenrsquot yet coached an Indian team at a World Cup thatrsquos coming up next year so Irsquom looking forward to thatWho has been your alltime favourite Indian playerThere have been a lot of great Indian hockey players but Dhanraj Pillay caught my eye He played during a very competitive era around the late 90s and early 2000s and was electrifying to watchWhat is that one achievement which you think will complete your career as a successful India coachI have already helped India win an Olympic medal From a World Cup point of view we would love to stand on the podium next year In fact we would love to win this World Cup thatrsquos one of our goals But even if we donrsquot I still think itrsquos been a fantastically successful period since I joined from the Asian perspective from the Olympics perspective and hopefully we can stand on the World Cup podium tooIndian hockey has come a long way in the last 100 years like from consistently failing to make it to the Olympics semifinals to now winning backtoback medals at the Games Where do you see Indian hockey going from hereIndian hockey is progressing in the right direction It has adapted well to the era when artificial turf was introduced From the strength and conditioning side of things from the audio visual and technology side of things and even from the tactical side of things Indian hockey has improved greatly From now on itrsquos all about trying to get more talent into the programme That stems from the grass root development aspect where Hockey India is doing a fantastic jobHow has the Indian hockey fan changed over the years With more technology at their disposal are fans more knowledgeable and more demanding tooThe Indian hockey fan will always be passionate Whether itrsquos the previous era or the modern era they just want to see their team win They want to see attacking hockey they want to see flair and they want to cheer goals That will never change The modern game has changed a bit making things a lot more tactical but the guys fans we come across or speak to are all genuine hockey lovers and understand these changing tactics They realise that you canrsquot always play the same way because itrsquos challenging to play top teams in only one way Itrsquos great to have the support of these fans All they want is goals and so we are always looking to scoremore goals for them