Craig Fulton Relieved as India Edge Pakistan to Reach Final

India head coach Craig Fulton admitted he was relieved after the defending champions survived a Pakistan comeback to win their Asian Games hockey semifinal 4-3 and book a place in the final. India had led 3-0 before Pakistan fought back to level the contest, only for India to find a late winner and keep their title defence on course.

The result delivered the immediate objective of a final berth, but Fulton made clear that the performance left his side with important issues to address. India created opportunities to build an even larger first-half advantage, yet Pakistan remained within reach before turning the momentum during a difficult second-half spell.

Fulton highlights missed chances and loss of shape

“I’m relieved. You can’t be happy with being 3-0 up, then going 3-3 and then winning 4-3. I’m happy, but that wasn’t ideal,” Fulton said after the semifinal.

The India coach pointed to a loss of structure in the third quarter and early in the fourth as Pakistan found a route back into the match. Fulton said the danger posed by Pakistan meant that even small errors could be punished. “We lost a little bit of our shape in the third quarter and at the start of the fourth. But if you make mistakes against a team like this, they can score. They’ve scored goals against everyone and anyone,” he said.

Fulton was especially critical of India not converting enough of their attacking play before the interval. The defending champions had good phases in the first half and missed chances to stretch their lead beyond three, a margin the coach believed was not sufficient against Pakistan.

“We needed to get to four and five goals. We missed a few chances and had a lot of good phases of play in the first half. We needed to get to four and five, but we stayed at three,” Fulton said. “You need three-plus goals when you play Pakistan, and that was shown today.”

He rejected the suggestion that India had deliberately dropped into a defensive approach after opening the three-goal lead. Instead, Fulton attributed Pakistan’s recovery to missed chances at one end and individual mistakes at the other. “I don’t think we went on the defensive. We just missed the chances. And then, when you make a mistake or two against a team like that, they can score. That’s the difference,” he said.

India take lessons into Asian Games final

Fulton described the contest as an example of knockout hockey demanding adaptation rather than a rigid commitment to a preferred style. “You can’t play the game you want to play. You have to play the game that’s in front of you. And that’s what it was. I’m glad we found a way to get to it,” he said.

India’s coach also felt that the players became too focused on the result in the closing stages. While he said the side had shown it could play for much of the match, the final 20 minutes became cagey as the prospect of reaching the final took greater prominence. Fulton said the team would review that phase and have the necessary conversations before returning for the final.

He did not believe India’s earlier one-sided victories had left them unprepared for a close semifinal, saying the key issue was his own team’s execution rather than Pakistan. Nor did he blame fatigue outright, despite acknowledging the demands of a long season and the changing dynamics of tournament hockey.

Most importantly, Fulton took encouragement from India continuing to seek the decisive goal rather than letting the match drift towards a penalty shootout. With the score at 3-3 and only a minute remaining, India found the winner. “Big learnings. We just need to finish it off better,” Fulton said. His assessment was direct: the final place matters, but India must be calmer, more clinical and better able to protect their shape if they are to complete their title defence.