New Delhi: For India to be a consistently winning power in international hockey, field goals must increase, several current and former players said after the team's second consecutive bronze at the Olympics.
Say no more, the team responded at the Asian Champions Trophy in Hulunbuir, China, remaining undefeated throughout the event to win the title for a record fifth time.
And in this incredible campaign, Harmanpreet Singh and his men scored 18 field goals out of a total of 26 shots on goal in the tournament.
It was a marked improvement from the Olympic campaign in Paris, where India scored 15 goals in total, of which only three came from field efforts.
Among those who stressed the need for more field goals was P. R. Sreejesh, the talismanic goalkeeper who resigned after the Games.
India head coach Craig Fulton fielded a relatively young team for the Asian Champions Trophy, resting experienced forwards like Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh and Lalit Kumar Upadhyay.
The only two strikers from the Parisian team who retained their place in the team were Abhishek and Sukhjeet Singh. Fulton selected young blood like former youth team captain Uttam Singh, Araijeet Singh Hundal and Gurjot Singh.
And the new batch did not disappoint.
In fact, the youngest forward scored 11 field goals.
While Uttam found the net four times in the tournament, three from field efforts and one from an indirect penalty corner, Hundal (3), Sukhjeet (3) and Abhishek (2) also did their bit to the delight of the coach in Chief Fulton.
If that was not enough, the most encouraging performance came from captain and dragster Harmanpreet (2) and defender Jugraj Singh (1), who also scored field goals.
Harmanpreet finished as the tournament's second-highest scorer behind China's Jihun Yang (9) with seven strikes, five of which came from penalty corners.
Jugraj also scored two goals, one from a penalty corner and the other a rare field goal that gave India a 1-0 victory over hosts China on Tuesday.
To the delight of the Indian coaching staff, young midfielder Raj Kumar Pal shone in the tournament, scoring three field goals, while defender Jarmanpreet Singh also scored once.
India scored the most goals, 26, followed by arch-rivals Pakistan (18), Korea (17), Malaysia (17), Japan (15) and China (10) in the six-team competition.
It was a notable improvement and Fulton hopes the trend continues in upcoming tournaments.
Say no more, the team responded at the Asian Champions Trophy in Hulunbuir, China, remaining undefeated throughout the event to win the title for a record fifth time.
And in this incredible campaign, Harmanpreet Singh and his men scored 18 field goals out of a total of 26 shots on goal in the tournament.
It was a marked improvement from the Olympic campaign in Paris, where India scored 15 goals in total, of which only three came from field efforts.
Among those who stressed the need for more field goals was P. R. Sreejesh, the talismanic goalkeeper who resigned after the Games.
India head coach Craig Fulton fielded a relatively young team for the Asian Champions Trophy, resting experienced forwards like Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh and Lalit Kumar Upadhyay.
The only two strikers from the Parisian team who retained their place in the team were Abhishek and Sukhjeet Singh. Fulton selected young blood like former youth team captain Uttam Singh, Araijeet Singh Hundal and Gurjot Singh.
And the new batch did not disappoint.
In fact, the youngest forward scored 11 field goals.
While Uttam found the net four times in the tournament, three from field efforts and one from an indirect penalty corner, Hundal (3), Sukhjeet (3) and Abhishek (2) also did their bit to the delight of the coach in Chief Fulton.
If that was not enough, the most encouraging performance came from captain and dragster Harmanpreet (2) and defender Jugraj Singh (1), who also scored field goals.
Harmanpreet finished as the tournament's second-highest scorer behind China's Jihun Yang (9) with seven strikes, five of which came from penalty corners.
Jugraj also scored two goals, one from a penalty corner and the other a rare field goal that gave India a 1-0 victory over hosts China on Tuesday.
To the delight of the Indian coaching staff, young midfielder Raj Kumar Pal shone in the tournament, scoring three field goals, while defender Jarmanpreet Singh also scored once.
India scored the most goals, 26, followed by arch-rivals Pakistan (18), Korea (17), Malaysia (17), Japan (15) and China (10) in the six-team competition.
It was a notable improvement and Fulton hopes the trend continues in upcoming tournaments.
