"Need To Start Fresh”: Craig Fulton Reveals India’s LA 2028 Plan After Asian Games Gold

New Delhi, Oct 5: After navigating a tough Hockey World Cup campaign, the Indian men's hockey team has roared back in style, defending the Asian Games gold medal for the very first time in its history, defeating Malaysia 5-1 in the final. With this victory at Nagoya, the team also secured their LA 28 Olympic Games quota as well.

Head coach Craig Fulton, who was under a lot of pressure to succeed at the international level ahead of the Asian Games, seems to have finally got some breathing space and is preparing his troops ahead of LA 28. Speaking to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) after the team's victory highlighted that even though it is still 2 years to go for LA 28, the preparations need to step up right from now.

"At the moment, we're just trying to get the right schedule and the right planning in place. We need the big blocks for what the preparation looks like two years out, a year out, six months out, and plan accordingly," Fulton said.

Squad Build-Up for Olympics 2028

Fulton said that once the Hockey India League (HIL) gets over, he will have to build a new team afresh. He added that, like every time, his team is also undergoing a transition. There is a good crop of both experienced and youth players in the team, according to Fulton, which will help him in making a new squad from scratch.

"We have a good group of experienced players with us now, and we have some youth, but we also have a lot of youth in the Indian A team and a strong Under-21 team as well, which is great. So, in the next two or three months, just after the Hockey India League, we'll have a look at all the talent that we have, choose a new squad and start fresh from there," he said.

India To Face Music At World Stage: Fulton

Fulton believes India's back-to-back Asian Games gold medals carry special significance, particularly because the two triumphs came in very different circumstances. Reflecting on the latest campaign, Fulton described the tournament as "very unique", with the team largely isolated from the wider Asian Games environment.

Unlike Hangzhou, where India won their first gold in the current cycle, the team had a more controlled routine this time around. "We'd go to the field, we'd play, we'd come back, and everything was the same," he said. While the Hangzhou triumph remains special as India's first gold, successfully defending the title made the latest achievement equally significant. "To come back and defend it and win back-to-back golds is always special," Fulton added.

Looking ahead, Fulton believes India must continue evolving as hockey becomes increasingly physical, technical and tactical at the international level. He pointed to key areas such as goalkeeping, penalty-corner attack and defence, stressing that teams around the world continue to improve. The competitiveness of the men's game was evident at the World Cup, where several teams outside the pre-tournament top four made deep runs. "The top four teams going into the World Cup were not the same four teams that played in the semi-finals," Fulton noted.

With fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-ranked sides also reaching the last four, the coach feels the narrowing gap between teams is a positive development. "Anyone can beat anyone on their day," he said, calling the current state of men's hockey "very exciting" and a good sign for the sport.

The South African believes that a lot of this transition and the way Indian Hockey is dominating in Asia, both in the men's and women's, is due to the active patronage from the Government of India.

"I think the government is our biggest supporter in terms of the resources and funds that they put forward to help the grassroots programmes, all the way through to the Under-18s, Under-21s and seniors."

With resources and help in the arsenal, Fulton believes that the equilibrium is there in the Indian circuit. The job right now is to find the right talent and expose it on the international platform.