FIH Pro League: COVID-19 plays spoilsport as India vs England matches postponed
The Indian women's hockey team's FIH Pro League matches against England, scheduled to be played at the Kalinga Stadium on April 2 and 3, have been postponed.
The development comes after the England women's hockey team has been rocked by a high number of COVID-19 positive cases and player injuries.
The FIH said the federation, along with Hockey India, are closely monitoring the situation and that the matches will be played at an appropriate date later.
The Indian men's hockey team's matches against England will be played as per the original schedule.
#FIHProLeague matches between @TheHockeyIndia and @EnglandHockey (Women), initially scheduled on 2 and 3 April in Bhubaneswar, India, have been postponed due to a high number of COVID cases and injuries affecting the English team. (1/2) https://t.co/jK51syYBL3
Commenting on the rescheduling of the India vs England matches, Hockey India President Gyanendro Ningombam said:
"It is unfortunate that the England Women's Hockey Team had to cancel their India trip for the weekend matches in Bhubaneswar. We understand these are challenging times for every team as we all continue to battle the pandemic."
How has the Indian women's team fared in the FIH Pro League?
With 12 points from six games, the Indian women's team are in second spot in the FIH Pro League standings.
Read: FIH Pro League 2022/23: India to host tournament opener, will take on New Zealand, Spain in October
The Indian team's last FIH Pro League assignment was against Germany. India won and lost one match apiece. While Germany won the first match 2-1 in a shootout, India bounced back with a 3-0 win in the shootout in the second leg. Both games ended in a 1-1 draw in regulation time.
The Indian chief coach had then said that the focus will now be on winning matches in regulation time and not taking the game to the shootouts.
This is the second time the Indian team's matches have been postponed due to the pandemic affecting the opposing team. India was scheduled to host the Netherlands on February 19 and 20 but the games had to be postponed due to a surge in COVID-19 cases in the country.
Another accolade presented to our Indian Men's and Women’s team by @BBCIndia for their extraordinary performance at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
#IndiaKaGame #HockeyIndia #tokyoolympics2020 @CMO_Odisha @sports_odisha @Media_SAI @IndiaSports https://t.co/6LPBT4dJX1
The India vs the Netherlands fixtures will now be played at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on April 8 and 9.
Also read: FIH Women's Junior World Cup: Indian skipper Salima Tete speaks about team's preparations