CHENNAI: OVER the last 18 months or so, ever since Craig Fulton took charge of the Indian men's hockey side, progress has been tangible. Sure, they have had big losses but the one thing the players repeatedly did well was to bounce back with improved performances.
Lost a big game? They would quietly buckle down to win the next big game. Had a questionable refereeing decision go against them? Fuel that injustice to fightback. Lose a senior player to injury or have some concerns over form? Somebody else would pop up with a performance.
That's generally been the story of Fulton's India. Just finding a way. It's why the upcoming Asia Cup in Rajgir, beginning from Friday, promises to be a fascinating new chapter for this team and support staff. For, over the last few months, the hockey players haven't found a way. If they have cleared one roadblock in front of them, they have pretty much hit the next one and collapsed.
There's two ways to look at their Pro League results from the Summer when they lost seven on the bounce before breaking that rut with a 4-3 win over Belgium to round out their league fixtures for the season. They finished second from bottom, 18 points, 18 adrift of Netherlands, eventual champions.
The Pro League offers the team a great avenue to play high quality opponents on a yearly basis but the jeopardy isn't there. Sure, you can be relegated but you have to be really, really bad to be relegated (Ireland, who were relegated this year, had four points). So it gives the team management a degree of freedom in terms of blooding youngsters, trialling tactical systems and experimenting new set plays.
But you also want to win matches, matches against top teams. Something India haven't done an awful lot of in the recent past. It's kind of reflected in their ranking (No. 7). If they don't move up a few rungs, they may get a bad draw at next year's World Cup if they qualify for it.
Which is why the Asia Cup is an important event as it acts as a qualifier for the World Cup. India will be aiming for one and done — win the Asia Cup to seal their place in Belgium and Netherlands next year. If they fail to do so, they will face the added pressure of featuring in a qualifying tournament later on.
So you add in everything and there's a sense of jeopardy that some of the earlier Fulton teams may not have felt. Of course they go into this tournament as prohibitive favourites; the second best ranked team in Asia is Malaysia (No. 12) who are in the other group. India's biggest group challenges in terms of ranking are Japan (No. 18). So you can kind of say that India's floor is possibly higher than the ceiling of most teams at the tournament. "Our expectation is very clear, to win the Asia Cup and secure qualification for the World Cup," the South African said in the pre-tournament press conference. "That is our main goal. We know it will be a tough competition with quality opposition, but we believe in the work we have done and in the strength of this squad. If we play to our standards, stay consistent, and execute well, we can achieve what we set out to do.”
They should get over the line but Indian hockey is replete with instances of reality and expectation failing to intersect. Fulton and this team have enough goodwill in the bank to not treat them with the same brush.
Over to Rajgir.
Pool A: India, China, Japan and Kazakhstan.
Pool B: Bangladesh, Chinese Taipei, Malaysia and South Korea.
Format: Each team will play their pool opponents once. Top two from each pool advances to a Super 4 stage where each team plays the other once. From there, the top two feature in the final.
India's pool schedule: August 29 -- vs. China; August 31 -- vs Japan; September 1 vs Kazakhstan
Final is on September 7