German men’s team hit by COVID-19, Pro League games against hosts India postponed | Hockey News

BHUBANESWAR: The Professional League double-header between the Indian males’s hockey workforce and Germany later this week has been postponed following an outbreak of COVID-19 within the guests’ camp, the game’s governing physique FIH stated on Tuesday.
The matches have been scheduled on March 12 and 13 right here however “have been postponed attributable to a excessive variety of COVID instances affecting the German workforce.”
“FIH, Hockey India and Hockey Germany are already working collectively to seek out different dates,” the Worldwide Hockey federation (FIH) stated in a press release.
The Indian males’s workforce have had a topsy-turvy marketing campaign thus far within the FIH Professional League because it defeated South Africa in each the matches, however had a win and a loss within the ties towards France and Spain.
Whereas the lads’s matches have been deferred, the worldwide governing physique stated that the ladies’s matches between India and Germany will go on as deliberate this weekend on the Kalinga Stadium.
The Germany ladies’s workforce arrived right here on Tuesday and skipper Lisa Nolte expressed delight on the prospect of taking part in India on the Kalinga Stadium.
“We now have by no means performed on the Kalinga Stadium earlier than, so we’re very enthusiastic about it. It is going to be wonderful to play at such a giant stadium, and we’re trying ahead to it,” Lisa stated.
“We undoubtedly see India as a powerful workforce, particularly they carried out so nicely on the Tokyo Olympics, and taking part in on the residence floor is all the time a bonus. Nonetheless, we do not wish to be unsettled by this and enter the sport confidently.”
World No. 5 German will play their first FIH Professional League recreation since October final yr.
Germany ladies’s head coach Akim Bouchouchi stated,” After the final Professional League video games in October, women had a break, after which they performed the indoor season with the golf equipment. It is a large occasion in Germany. We had just one camp of preparation.
“However at this second, we wanted large motivation to start out the brand new yr with thrilling occasions like Germany coming to India for Professional League video games.”
“It is the primary time Germany ladies’s workforce will play video games right here in India in couple of years. We’re very curious in regards to the environment within the stadium, and the video games towards the Indian ladies’s workforce. So, we’re very completely satisfied to be right here.”