NEWS
Indian hockey players returned to the turf for training on Monday morning after nearly 70 days; the first team sport in India to resume training after the lockdown was imposed in India.
It was vastly different from what they are used to but for a player, It was largely about the satisfying feeling of the ball hitting the stick again.
The players had been developing a sense of frustration as since one month they were not allowed to train despite spending most of the lockdown inside the Bengaluru campus of Sports Authority of India.
And when Government showed them a green signal mid-May, the wait got extended as a SAI officer tested positive for the Coronavirus and passed away. They had to spend two weeks in complete isolation due to that incident before stepping on to the field again.
According to the Social distancing protocols, the teams have been divided into two groups. Half of them resumed training on the hockey turf while the rest began the ‘unlockdown’ with some fitness drills.
A group of women players, spent their morning on the football ground where they performed tasks given by physio Wayne Parnell. The men, too, followed the same pattern. On Tuesday, both groups swapped their tasks.
Divided groups meant full-fledged training wasn’t possible but basic passing and receiving drills were also part of the session which last about 90 minutes.
“That was the only thing possible because of the distancing norms. Initially, that’s what our training will look like,” a source quoted.
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