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Prepared detailed plan for senior men, women team's competitions ahead of Olympics: Hockey India

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Press Trust of India New Delhi
Last Updated : May 13 2020 | 8:41 PM IST

Hockey India on Wednesday said it has drawn up a list of competitions both for the senior men and women's teams in the run-up to next year's Tokyo Olympics.

The detailed plan involves playing a number of matches against top teams in the world.

In a Special Congress held via a video conference, the executive board members and state units of the HI also discussed various options to pave the way for restarting the sport once the COVID-19 pandemic-forced lockdown is lifted.

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Narinder Batra took part in the virtual meeting as a special invitee.

HI High Performance Director David John highlighted the impact of the pandemic on preparations for the Tokyo Games and said that a standard operating procedure (SOP) has been submitted to SAI last month for all national athletes.

Besides, a calendar of matches and tournaments has been drawn up for all four teams (senior and junior men and women) for next year.

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"The senior men's team have 10 FIH Hockey Pro League matches to be played to fulfil their commitments from the 2020 season. Apart from two matches versus New Zealand in India, the remaining 8 matches are scheduled to be played in Germany, Great Britain, Argentina and Spain," the HI said in a release.

"The Indian women's team will need to finalise overseas tours to countries that that have relaxed their travel restrictions and provide a high level of competition such as Netherlands, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.

"It would be ideal for the team to play around 1014 competitive matches against above opposition prior to Tokyo Olympic Games," it said.

The HI said depending on the situation, the Indian men and women's teams will play the Asian Champions Trophy to be organised by the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) prior to the Olympics, which will provide exposure to the team.

"The national camps and international exposures for the senior men and senior women teams have been scheduled according to FIH calendar and will be submitted in the ACTC for 2020/21 once FIH and AHF finalise their dates."

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First Published: May 13 2020 | 8:41 PM IST

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