Men's, women's hockey teams resume on-field training at SAI centre in Bengaluru
Jun 03, 2020
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], June 3 : Indian men's and women's hockey teams core probables groups have resumed on-field training at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Centre here while following all norms under the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
"Sport activities on the field of play for both Senior Men and Senior Women's Core Probables Group began in Sports Authority of India, Bengaluru Campus on Monday June 1, 2020 in a systematic and phased manner with all norms under the SOP being followed by both teams," read a statement from Hockey India.
SAI, Bangalore has ensured that all the safety measures are in place in accordance with the Govt guidelines and SOP to ensure a safe environment for sports activity. All players too have been briefed and are well-aware of the SOP norms.
"Since the players are returning to the pitch after a gap of two months, they will begin with limited hours and stick to sports activities in the initial phase to avoid any possibility of injury," the statement further said.
While players of both teams are upbeat on the new situation, the coaching staff has meticulously designed the daily schedule with a special focus on giving players enough time to adjust to the new norms.
On Tuesday, Hockey India nominated Rani Rampal, who is a recipient of the Padma Shri Award, for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award while her compatriots Vandana Katariya, Monika, and Harmanpreet Singh were nominated for the Arjuna Award.
The period of consideration for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2019. During this period, Rampal has led the Indian women's team to historic victories in the Women's Asia Cup in 2017, silver at the 2018 Asian Games and played a critical role in the FIH Olympic Qualifiers in 2019 by scoring the deciding goal that helped India qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics.
During this period, the Indian women's team also climbed to a career-best FIH world ranking of nine. First from India to be named as the World Games Athlete of the Year 2019, Rampal has also been the recipient of the Arjuna Award in 2016 before she was bestowed with the prestigious Padma Shri award in 2020.
