File photo of Indian hockey team.© AFP
A bronze medal finish is not what hockey coach Craig Fulton had wanted but the South African would relish the achievement simply for the fact that "underdog India" lifted themselves up from disappointments when no one gave them a chance. India dominated Spain in their bronze play-off to secure a 2-1 win. The last time India achieved back-to-back medals at the Olympic Games was in 1968 and 1972. India had endured a rough build-up to the Games, receiving a 0-5 hammering at the hands of Australia and also struggled in the FIH Pro-League.
Fulton, though, said his team had what it takes to deliver at the biggest stage. In the past India would desperately look for a medal-finish but now even a second consecutive medal is not seen as the desired result.
"We're not happy here where we are. We wanted the one above and we didn't get it. But the next best thing to do was this," Fulton said after India won its second consecutive medal.
The coach said the time period between 2021 and 2024 was of building a team that could fight together.
"I think the biggest thing was that we became a team, and we did that through a very short space of time. We needed to build trust, because that's the number one thing that you can rely on," Fulton said.
"And I thought we did a good job in the Asian Games to start that process. And then we obviously pushed through. We had some tough times in Australia, tough times in the Pro League.
"We knew we had it in us, and we came in here as underdogs. In a sense, no one even thought we were going to make the top four." Fulton said he knew India could compete against all these teams.
"And we had good results. And, yeah, to get the trust back there, Paddy's (Paddy Upton) had a big input into that. But so has our staff, so has our group." Only India and Germany have achieved back-to-back medals and Fulton said it gives a clear message: "That shows we're on the right track. We're proud of our ability to get up after the disappointments." India largely dominated the match against Spain, attacking more and defending well but Fulton said "it was a tough game, man".
"Spain threw everything at us. And it was beautiful to finally get the results." It was Spain that took the lead by converting a penalty stroke but Fulton said they were not perturbed.
The mindset is now such that they have the belief that the team can bounce back. "So, we've seen it all, been through it all. So, it was just, start again. And I think the nice thing was, we knew if we got corners, we were going to score because we had a great plan. And it worked like a bolt," he said.
"It was good. Yeah, well, the third quarter was great. We were able to put real pressure on. And we did that. And the main thing is, we had to manage the ball better." Asked about the pre-match conversations, he said, "We told them, it's not about who deserves it. It's about who wants it more and that was a key message for everyone." It took India 41 years to break the Olympic medal jinx in Tokyo and the second came within three years. Can India stay consistent? "You saw the consistency in the tournament. It was a tough start for us. But then from, obviously, when we qualified, beating Ireland. And then the game with Belgium, we still played well. We had to make some improvements. And then that came in the Aussie game," Fulton said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)