CHENNAI: Sports minister Kiren Rijiju chaired a high-power meeting where he assured the country’s hockey stars that they will be allowed to train upon implementation of the ‘Standard Operation Procedures’ created by the committee instituted at SAI.
According to a press release, Rijiju said: “We will resume practice soon but in a controlled manner. We cannot afford to risk the health of even one athlete because that will jeopardise the entire training plan. (...) We must accept that in post Covid-era sports will not be played in the same way and we will have to adjust to the changes and move forward.”
In hockey in the short term, that means training in small groups and being mindful of physical distancing. While there is no set date yet, they could start training from next week, provided some aspects of the lockdown are lifted. Otherwise, they cannot train till the end of this month.
Captains of both senior teams — Manpreet Singh and Rani Rampal — hoped they get to train outdoors as soon as possible. “If we are able to start training on basic skills and specialised skills in small batches and work on other techniques like penalty corners, it will help the teams make a start towards Olympic preparations,” Manpreet said.
IOA president Narinder Batra, men’s coach Graham Reid and women’s coach Sjoerd Marijne were among others who attended the meeting over video-conference.