As she could not compete in Birmingham Games after contracting COVID-19, Indian women hockey team midfielder Navjot Kaur says missing a major tournament like CWG was “hard to accept”.
After reaching Birmingham and was forced to fly back home The 27-year-old Navjot got infected. “It was disappointing to leave like that. It was very difficult and hard for me to accept,” Navjot said.
“I haven’t missed out on any major tournament ever before, so I was dealing with this situation for the first time in my career,” she added.
When she was in Nottingham for a training camp Navjot tested positive for Covid 19. “I had no major symptoms and was hopeful of getting back to the team by the time we moved to the village. I was being tested every day and unfortunately, it kept showing positive readings,” she recollected.
In 16 years Winning their first CWG medal, India loose in front of Australia in the semi-final in a controversial penalty shootout, however successfully in the bronze playoff beats defending champions New Zealand.
India bagged silver in the following edition in Melbourne in the 2002 CWG champions. In 1998 in Kuala Lumpur and in Gold Coast in 2018 the side had finished fourth.
“I watched all the matches with my family,” Kaur said. “It was heartbreaking to see the team lose against Australia with a very narrow margin. But, the way the team bounced back to win the bronze medal was really inspiring. The World Cup campaign was also disappointing. We were playing quite well, it’s just that the results weren’t in our favour. But, really proud of the team for the way they fought back and ended the long Europe tour with a historic bronze medal.”
In Bengaluru at the SAI Centre while returned to the training camp, 27 year old said team’s next target goal is to qualify for the Pro League.
“We have got a good amount of time to prepare for the Women’s Nations Cup in December 2022, which will help us qualify for the next edition of the FIH Hockey Pro League,” she concluded.
