<p>The Indian men’s hockey team’s head coach, Craig Fulton, acknowledged that his team’s penalty corner conversion rate in the tied game against Japan is troubling but insisted that his squad is not far from completing everything flawlessly.</p>
<p>At the Asian Champions Trophy on Friday, India’s 15 penalty corners against Japan, the defending champions of the Asian Games, resulted in a scoreless tie.<img decoding=”async” class=”alignnone wp-image-113383″ src=”https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/theindiaprint.com-sample-test-questions-for-clat-2024-will-be-made-available-at-consortiumofnlus-ac-in-today-craig-fulton-11zon-750×417.png” alt=”” width=”1478″ height=”822″ srcset=”https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/theindiaprint.com-sample-test-questions-for-clat-2024-will-be-made-available-at-consortiumofnlus-ac-in-today-craig-fulton-11zon-750×417.png 750w, https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/theindiaprint.com-sample-test-questions-for-clat-2024-will-be-made-available-at-consortiumofnlus-ac-in-today-craig-fulton-11zon-1024×569.png 1024w, https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/theindiaprint.com-sample-test-questions-for-clat-2024-will-be-made-available-at-consortiumofnlus-ac-in-today-craig-fulton-11zon-768×427.png 768w, https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/theindiaprint.com-sample-test-questions-for-clat-2024-will-be-made-available-at-consortiumofnlus-ac-in-today-craig-fulton-11zon-150×83.png 150w, https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/theindiaprint.com-sample-test-questions-for-clat-2024-will-be-made-available-at-consortiumofnlus-ac-in-today-craig-fulton-11zon.png 1200w” sizes=”(max-width: 1478px) 100vw, 1478px” /></p>
<p>It was a different performance from the hosts’ impressive 7-2 victory against China in the first game, in which six of the goals came from corners.</p>
<p>“If you are missing your opportunities, whether corners or field goals, every coach is concerned. At the news conference after the game, Fulton remarked, “You always want to figure out ‘why?’ and attempt to find a solution for it as well as combinations of players together.</p>
<p>It’s not that we aren’t using our system to play. Even tonight (Friday), we had two to three extremely strong counters, demonstrating that we are playing as we want to play. We have one more step to do before we meet our goals.</p>
<p>Fulton did, however, give the Japanese credit for their strong defense, which forced India to work hard to score corners and even field goals in order to succeed.</p>
<p>“Japan attacked and defended well. They had good movement. We reunited at halftime. In the subsequent quarters, we demonstrated how we returned to the game. Additionally, they played solid penalty corner defense.</p>
<p>“We made an effort, but we didn’t convert (our corners). We’ll go again since it’s an excellent lesson, he said.</p>
<p>Against Japan, it was also observed that the Indians mostly concentrated on winning the penalty corners within the box and avoided hitting routine attempts towards the target.</p>
<p>However, Fulton trusted his players to make the right choice at that particular moment and was pleased with how many corners his team had won and how many scoring opportunities they had generated.</p>
<p>Situations vary. Our athletes should shoot. They have the right to fire. We support them in making the instinctively optimal choice given the situation at hand.</p>
<p>“It’s encouraging that we are taking a lot of corners. A few rounds have been fired. However, the competition is still ongoing. We ended up with a tie in this match.</p>
<p>We had plenty of opportunities to win, so of course we wanted to. It’s not a pleasant feeling, but we must improve and be ready for the next game,” he said.</p>
<p>HARMANPREET SINGH asserts, “WE ARE NOT UNDER ANY PRESSURE.”</p>
<p>With Harmanpreet Singh, the home team’s star drag flicker and captain, scoring the only goal in the game, India’s front line wasted a lot of opportunities.</p>
<p>When asked whether he or his team were under any pressure to score from penalty corners, Harmanpreet said, “We have no pressure.”</p>
<p>“We never stop putting forward and doing our best. The defense of (Japan) was solid. We were acting in accordance with the directions we were given. Therefore, we are prepared for the next match (against Malaysia).</p>
<p>“We’ll try to target the areas where we scored goals in the first game (against China).” He said, “We would also attempt something fresh.</p>
Craig Fulton Though Admits ‘Concern’ on Missed Penalty Corner Chances vs. Japan While Playing the Way We Want
