South Africa’s Craig Fulton is new chief coach of Indian males’s hockey crew

India on Friday named South Africa’s Craig Fulton as the brand new chief coach of the lads’s nationwide hockey crew that completed a disappointing ninth within the World Cup at dwelling.

Fulton, who has almost 25 years of teaching expertise, replaces Australian Graham Reid, who give up after India’s dismal present within the World Cup.

Not simply Reid, the crew’s analytical coach Greg Clark and scientific advisor Mitchell Pemberton had additionally tendered their resignations. Reid, although, had guided the Indian crew to a historic bronze medal-winning present on the Tokyo Olympics. Fulton stated he would try to take Indian hockey to the following stage.

🚨 BREAKING 🚨

Craig Fulton of 🇿🇦 is the brand new chief coach of the Indian males’s hockey crew. 🏑

The South African was the assistant coach of the 2018 World Cup and Tokyo 2020 gold medal-winning Belgian crew. 👏#Hockey | @TheHockeyIndia | @FIH_Hockey pic.twitter.com/adDwNRYgvH

— Olympic Khel (@OlympicKhel) March 3, 2023

“It is an honour to be appointed in the role of chief coach for the Indian men’s hockey team. India has a deep history and legacy of the sport and I look forward to taking this forward with the current team which has some very promising talent,” Fulton stated in a press launch.

Fulton has proven exemplary ends in his earlier stints as coach. His rise to fame began with a stint with the Irish males’s crew as its head coach between 2014 to 2018 when the crew certified for the Rio Olympics in 2016.

That was the Irish crew’s first Olympic qualification in 100 years. The historic feat additionally received him the FIH Coach of the Year in 2015.
Fulton additionally labored as assistant coach with the reigning Olympic champions Belgium en path to the gold medal in Tokyo. He was additionally a part of the Belgian teaching workers throughout their 2018 World Cup win in Bhubaneswar.

Fulton was named Belgium Coach of the Year this yr.

In his illustrious profession as a hockey participant with the South African squad, Fulton performed 195 worldwide matches over a span of 10 years. He was a part of the South Africa crew on the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and 2004 Athens Olympics. He has additionally performed on the World Cup and Commonwealth Games.

Speaking on Fulton’s appointment, Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey stated, “I’m very happy to state that Hockey India has finalised Craig Fulton for the chief coach’s position with the Indian males’s hockey crew. I’ve had the honour of taking part in in opposition to him and now I stay up for intently working with him on this new section for the lads’s hockey crew.

“He comes with tremendous experience in coaching and his work ethics induces confidence of raising the team’s performance in world hockey.” Fulton is anticipated to hitch in the course of the upcoming FIH Pro League matches in opposition to Australia and Germany in Rourkela subsequent month.

India will tackle Germany within the first match on March 10 adopted by return leg on March 13. India will even play Australia, the reigning Commonwealth Games champions, on March 12 and 15.

In the Pro League matches, Australian David John and BJ Kariappa have been named as interim coaches, together with Shivendra Singh.
John and Kariappa have been working with the Odisha Hockey Federation.