Fulton admits India below-par but happy with win

Rajgir (Bihar), Aug 29 (PTI) Chief coach Craig Fulton was not fully satisfied with Indian men's hockey team's performance against lowly China in its Asia Cup opener, but stressed that the most important thing was to start with a win.

World number seven India looked lacklustre and were made to toil hard by 23rd-ranked China before scraping to a 4-3 win in their opener.

"First half was good, we got into good positions and then did some mistakes but we always had another gear to get to. It's nice that in the second half we got some PCs and converted. Not to score the stroke was unfortunate," Fulton said in the post-match interaction.

India captain Harmanpreet Singh converted three penalty corners but missed a penalty stroke in the second half.

"We played well enough to win the game but we didn't play to our expectations. The first hurdle was a good hurdle. There was lot of fight in our team which was nice to see but we missed a few chances and we conceded a few soft goals as well," Fulton said.

Fulton said his side needs to improve in several areas despite the result going their way.

"What was important was to get the three points and we did that." The South African said it would be a mistake to underestimate any team in the tournament, which was visible on Friday.

"Well I expect fight from any team. We are the highest ranked team and favourites here, so every team is going to lift themselves to play us and we have to manage that challenge," Fulton said.

"I have seen a lot of games when you don't play well but you win and that's what is important getting the win." Harmanpreet said there plenty of learnings from the match against China.

"It was a tough match but winning was important. Till the last whistle we fought. It's a good lesson for us," he said.

He highlighted that they need to be alert defensively.

"Most of the team here prefer to sit back, play deep and wait for counters. That's a good lesson for us, to make sure that our defensive line is strong." PTI SSC TAP