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India’s 3-1 win over Wales earned full points, but a shaky defence and blunt attack left more questions than answers in their World Cup opener.
India beat Wales 3-1 in Amstelveen. (Hockey India)
Skipper Harmanpreet Singh’s two drag-flick conversions led the way for India’s narrow 3-1 victory over unfancied Wales, fetching them full three points from the opening outing of the Men’s Hockey World Cup 2026 at Amstelveen’s historic Wagenar Stadium, but there are unlikely to be big celebrations over this performance.
This victory has raised a lot of questions, and provided very few answers to hockey watchers concerned at the topsy-turvy performance of the Indian squad post the second successive Olympic bronze medal. “Yes, it has been a tough year, but we are now ready for the World Cup” was the line repeated by the coaches and team leadership alike.
The Olympic bronze medallists have plenty to ponder over after their defensive structure got penetrated by the few raids the Welsh team managed to mount, even as Indian strikers struggled inside a crowded circle at the other end.
For the past two years, coach Craig Fulton has been propounding the gains of the defensive structure the Indian team had been able to create. He repeatedly credited India’s third-placed finish at the Paris Olympic Games to his team building a solid defense that successfully thwarted the flow of raids from the famed European outfits.
Credit was given to the new way the Indian team was playing under this South African coach, who had curbed India’s all-out attacking game, which left huge gaps when the rivals counter-attacked.
Maintaining a defensive structure even when going all out into the attack was what produced positive results that saw India’s return to the Olympic hockey medal podium – at Tokyo in 2021. Forty-one years had lapsed since eight-time gold medallists India won the 1980 gold medal at the boycott-hit Olympic Games in Moscow.
India were commended to be back at the top table when they repeated the Tokyo performance by clinching a bronze in the Paris Olympics.
This time, new coach Fulton’s strategy of packing the defense was supposed to have carried India through. That sound defence was nowhere in sight when two unfancied Welsh strikers – Fred Newbold and Jack Pritchard made a foray into the Indian circle in the very second minute of this opening game.
The structure almost seemed invisible in the 19th minute when Pritchard latched on to a through-pass on the right and burst into the Indian circle. He even managed to get past defender Sanjay and was in a one-on-one position with goalkeeper Suraj Karkera. It was India’s good fortune that Karkera managed to narrow his angle by diving to the left and Pritchard’s shot went into the side of the boards. Phew!
With the Indian strikers not able to have a decent crack at the rival citadel, Harmanpreet’s side again had to bank on penalty corner conversions to clinch win in their World Cup first round-robin league fixture.
Leading the fray was Harmanpreet with his two penalty corner conversions in the 11th and 43rd minutes, while Sanjay had opened India’s scoring with a fine drag-flick in the seventh minute when the captain was not on the pitch.
In one of their few composed raids five minutes from the hooter, Wales pulled a goal back in a goalmouth melee that young goalkeeper H.S. Mohit tried hard to fend off. This sort of goal can be conceded by the best of teams against the minnows.
Critics would give the team some leeway as tournament openers are often like this, allowing the best of teams some margin of error as they get into match-form.
(The Writer is reporting from his 10th Senior Men’s Hockey World Cup)
Key Questions Answered
Ask News18India’s defensive strategy in future matches could improve if they address the issues observed in their recent World Cup opener against Wales, where their defensive structure was penetrated.
Ask News18August 16, 2026, 07:00 IST
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