Indian women's team set to resume international hockey

The core group of 25 players and seven support staff will leave from New Delhi.

After nearly a year since they last played an international match, the Indian women’s hockey team will travel to Argentina for their first tour of the Olympic year 2021. 

The team is scheduled to leave on 3 January 2021 from New Delhi and will be competing in eight matches against the host nation starting from 17 January 2021. The total core group of 25 players and 7 support staff will be travelling for the tour of Argentina. 

This will be the first time that the Indian team preparing for the Olympic Games has received government sanction to travel for an international assignment after the pandemic hit and halted all national and international competitions around the world abruptly. 

The women's team last participated in an international tour in January 2020 when they travelled to New Zealand for a five-match series. They played both New Zealand and Great Britain in the five-match series and were victorious in 3 of the 5 matches that they played. 

Over the past months, Hockey India has been meticulously planning, in coordination with a number of countries to ensure international competitions for the Indian teams as part of their preparations for the Tokyo Olympic Games which were postponed from July 2020 to July 2021.

"I am happy that after one year we are able to play international matches. This tour will give us information for the next step to be made in our preparations for the Tokyo Olympic Games. I want to thank Hockey India for their efforts to make this possible and thank SAI for their quick response,” expressed Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne. 

Robust bio-bubble to ensure safety 

Hockey India and the host National Association have planned to create a bio bubble in Argentina for both teams. The players will not be moving out of the bubble and meeting any third-party source as even while travelling to the match/training venue the team will be travelling in a dedicated transport which will only take upto 80% capacity. 

There will be no movement for members to move out of the hotel except for training and match days. "This tour has been planned very carefully keeping in mind the safety of players and we are truly grateful to Hockey India and SAI for ensuring we resume competition despite the ongoing pandemic," stated Rani Rampal.

"We have a little over 200 days before we arrive in Tokyo for the Olympic Games in July 2021 and it was very important to play matches against a strong team like Argentina. The team is really excited for this opportunity and has been keenly looking forward to this tour, this exposure will make us understand the level we are at after nearly a five-month-long national coaching camp in Bengaluru." 

The entire Indian contingent will undergo a Covid-19 RT-PCR Test 72 hours prior to their departure from New Delhi. Though there is no requirement of quarantine upon arrival in Argentina, the team will still be following all safety and health measures as advised by the respective governments of India & Argentina.