Indian women’s hockey team to resume international competition with tour of Argentina in January

New Delhi, Dec 30 : Indian hockey will press the restart button and begin Olympic preparations when the women’s team travel to Argentina next week for their first tour in nearly a year after the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly halted all competitions in the world.

A party of 25 players and seven support staff will depart New Delhi on January 3. The Indian women’s team will play eight matches against Argentina, starting January 17.

“We have just over 200 days to get to Tokyo for the July 2021 Olympics and it was very important to play games against a strong team like Argentina,” said the captain of the Indian team. hockey player Rani in a statement released by Hockey India.

“The team are really excited about this opportunity and are looking forward to this tour, this exhibit will give us a sense of where we are after nearly five months of National Coaching Camp in Bangalore.”

The Indian women’s team were last on an international tour in January this year when they traveled to New Zealand for a five-game series. He played both New Zealand and Great Britain in the five-game series and won three of them.

“I am happy that after a year we are able to play international matches. This tour will give us information on the next step to be taken in our preparations for the Tokyo Olympics,” said the head coach Sjoerd Marijne.

Hockey India and the host national association are planning to create a bio bubble in Argentina for the two teams.

The Indian women team will be staying at a hotel where arrangements have been made to have separate rooms / rooms for the team for all meals, team meetings, sessions etc.

Accommodation will be on a two bed sharing basis, where the room sharing partners will remain the same throughout the tour which will also be the same even if there is seating arrangement in the coach / bus from the team, this was carefully planned with all the necessary requirements in mind.

“This tour has been planned very carefully with the safety of the players in mind and we are truly grateful to Hockey India and SAI for making sure we resume competition despite the ongoing pandemic,” said Rani.

Among other protocols, team members will not come out of the bubble and encounter any third-party sources, as even going to the match / training venue, the team will travel in a dedicated transport which will only take 80%. of its capacity.

The entire Indian contingent will undergo the COVID-19 RT-PCR test 72 hours before leaving New Delhi.

There is no quarantine requirement on arrival in Argentina, but the team will always follow all safety and health measures recommended by the respective governments of India and Argentina.