On Independence Day, the Indian men’s hockey team begin their quest to end a 51-year-wait for the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup title against Wales, and you can follow it live on ESPN.
India have been drawn against Wales, Pakistan and England in Pool D and will hope to progress to the second round with a top-two finish in their group.
Craig Fulton’s side are favourites going into the contest against Wales, but the coach who guided India to a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics is leaving no room for complacency. “Wales is the complete underdog and that’s what a World Cup is about sometimes. You have got to play to your seeding and every team that’s below you, you have got to concentrate and put full efforts in. We take nothing for granted,” Fulton told PTI ahead of the match.
“We are expecting a tough battle from them. At the same time, we need to put in 100 per cent focus and attention on our game plan and make sure that we have four consistent quarters of good focus. The first match is very important in a tournament like the World Cup. Our emphasis is to make sure that we hit the ground running and are able to get three points convincingly.”
Captain Harmanpreet Singh echoed his coach’s sentiments, saying “We cannot take any team lightly and a good start is important to set the tone. All the three pool matches are important to us as they will help us going ahead in the tournament.”
“We have worked really hard for this tournament, having analysed all the teams deeply. We are playing against Wales after a long time but their style remains the same. We had a great training session ahead of the match, so the team is really upbeat.”
India’s most recent competitive outings placed question marks over their defending and lack of focus, especially late in games, but Harmanpreet maintains the group has improved since their bronze-winning efforts in Paris, saying “We have improved a lot since the Paris Olympic bronze medal finish. Defence looks solid and we are now playing smart hockey. How to convert 50-50 chances into 100 is important. We will make mistakes but we keep talking inside the team that we have to maintain consistency in all the four quarters.”
India last played Wales at the 2023 World Cup in Bhubaneswar, in which India ran out 4-2 winners. A repeat would go a long way in ensuring India progress from Pool D.
