FIH Men's World Cup: Harmanpreet Singh calls for improved defence after poor outing

India's disappointing eighth-place finish at the FIH World Cup has exposed their defensive shortcomings, with captain Harmanpreet Singh admitting that the team needs to improve significantly in that area, especially against the world's top sides.

India finished eighth after losing 3-4 to co-hosts Belgium in a penalty shootout in the final classification match on Friday. Former champions Belgium held a 3-2 lead until the final minute, but 26 seconds before the hooter, Harmanpreet converted a penalty corner to force the match into a shootout. The Indian skipper scored eight goals in the tournament.

"Both teams didn't want to play for this position, and both were in the same mental status. But playing against the world's top team in front of their fans and performing well as a team is a big boost," said Harmanpreet, one of the world's premier drag-flickers.

"We kept talking about putting in a good performance for the entire 60 minutes, which we saw today. We're happy with the performance against Belgium, but not with the eighth-place finish. But this is a journey, and now our next goal is the Asian Games. We want to win the gold medal there and qualify for the Los Angeles Olympics," he said.

Harmanpreet said the team needed to work on maintaining a strong defence, particularly against top sides.

"There are no individual goals. If we win, we win as a team, and if we lose, it is also collective responsibility. We've learnt good lessons in defence throughout the tournament. If we don't defend well as a team, big teams will trouble you. We need to be stronger defensively. This is one area where we lagged behind," he said.

On veteran midfielder Manpreet Singh's injury during the match against Belgium, Harmanpreet said, "He has got seven stitches, but he's a strong man and will recover soon."

It's important to carry this momentum into Asian Games: Coach Fulton

Happy with India's performance against Belgium, head coach Craig Fulton said it was important for the team to carry the momentum into the Asian Games.

"We had a rough start and they were definitely better in the first half. Then we started to settle, made some big saves, but Manpreet got injured, which was not ideal. But from that moment, there was a lot of fight left in the boys. I am happy with that result as it was a draw in 60 minutes," he said.

"The nice thing was we scored in the run of play. Then we conceded two goals and almost conceded the third one, but we came back stronger in the second half. We had to send Dilpreet into midfield from the forward line due to Manpreet's injury. It was all about playing with intelligence, which they did," he added.

Asked how he viewed India's overall performance in the tournament, Fulton said the team had made progress but still had areas to address.

"I think two steps forward, one step back, but at the same time we had moments in every single match. We finished strong today, which we didn't do in the other game. Having this form going into the Asian Games is very, very important for our momentum," he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Bridge Desk. It is published from a syndicated feed.)