India have been coming to the top of their eleventh sport in 18 days. They had landed in Chennai a few days earlier than the beginning of the Asian Champions Trophy. And but, in the direction of the end of the final, India have been those making all of the working whereas the Malaysians visibly ran out of steam and had a number of gamers cramping up. It was a sign of how superior the Indians’ health requirements have been to their opposition’s and was as soon as once more an enormous issue within the title victory.

“We’ve almost played a major tournament and then some,” mentioned chief coach Craig Fulton. “We’ve been on the road now for 24 or 25 days, so we go our separate ways tomorrow for a little break, and I think it’s well-deserved.”

India have been chasing the ultimate in opposition to Malaysia, having gone 1-3 down within the first half. It was a taxing effort to return again from the brink and win 4-3, particularly with the schedule that India have had, having to journey between continents after the conclusion of the three-nation worldwide event in Spain. “It’s necessary that you have to be at peak fitness at crucial moments – and that’s towards the end of a tournament,” Fulton mentioned.

“If we were 2-0 or 3-0 up, we would have had to be fit enough to manage them coming at us, taking their keeper off, playing with an extra man. Fitness is the priority in this modern game that we’re playing today,” the South African mentioned.

The give attention to health in Indian hockey is not one thing that has come about lately. It was the bedrock upon which the bronze medal on the Tokyo Olympics was gained, it was what enabled India to attain the variety of late targets they’ve accomplished within the FIH Pro League within the final couple of seasons.

“I think any team that plays us know we’re really fit, and they have to match us in all four quarters,” Fulton mentioned.

Hear the ideas of the Hero Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023 successful coach of Team India, Craig Fulton.#HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame #HACT2023 pic.twitter.com/QKZHAXNLTP

– Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) August 12, 2023

The Indian coach additionally added that his gamers’ health additionally helps them mentally, along with being the bodily specimens that they’re. “I think the biggest [effect] is that mentally you start to believe you have another gear. We showed tonight we can do that,” he mentioned.

While Fulton’s type thus far has been a bit extra subdued than Graham Reid’s in that India do not all the time play the excessive press, it is not any much less intense, with gamers consistently having to work arduous in each attacking and defensive transitions. While Fulton needs India to play with a managed method, he additionally acknowledges that velocity is a necessity within the fashionable sport.

“Your skill is derived from your level of fitness. If you want to play a fast-paced game, you need to have that aerobic speed, you need that sprint repeatability, you need it all. I think we’re growing in confidence that we can play hockey at a high tempo,” he mentioned.

“I think there’s no guarantee that you’ll win just because you’re fit, but you definitely won’t be winning many games if you’re not.”

Right now, India are successful extra video games than they lose, and that’s in no small half all the way down to the conditioning of the squad, which is among the fittest in world hockey.