England women’s hockey team hit by COVID, Pro League games against India postponed

By PTI

NEW DELHI: The upcoming FIH Pro League double-header between the women hockey teams of India and England was postponed on Tuesday due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the British camp.

The matches were scheduled to be played on April 2 and 3 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

Game’s governing body FIH said the matches have been postponed “due to a high number of COVID cases and injuries affecting the English team.”

“FIH, @TheHockeyIndia and @EnglandHockey are monitoring the situation. Further information will be given as soon as available,” the FIH tweeted.

“The England Women’s Team have had to cancel their travel to India for the double-header FIH Pro League matches on 2nd and 3rd April due to several members of the team testing positive for Covid-19 while some were unavailable due to injuries in the squad,” Hockey India said in release.

While the women’s matches were deferred, the men’s fixtures between India and England will be played as planned this weekend.

Commenting on the rescheduling, 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,” he added.

The Indian women’s team is currently third in the league standing, having won three games, drawn two and lost one.

This is not the first time India’s Pro League fixture has been postponed.

Earlier this month, the Indian men’s team’s matches against Germany were postponed following an outbreak of COVID-19 in the German camp.