Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Oct 6: The Indian Men’s and Women’s team have decided to pull out of the Commonwealth Games 2022, which is starting from July 28 to August 8, 2022 in Birmingham, England.
Both the teams have decided to put full focus on the Upcoming Asian Games 2022, which will be held in Hangzhou, China from September 10 to 25, 2022. Notably, this Asian Games is a continental qualification event for the Paris Olympics 2024, so the Indian men’s and women’s hockey team will need to be at their best when they take part in the Asian Games in September 2022. To get a direct qualification for the Paris Olympic Games, it is a priority for both teams to win a gold medal at the Asian Games 2022.
Talking about this decision of withdrawal from the Commonwealth Games, Gyanendro Ningombam, the president of Hockey India said that ,” The Asian Games 2022 is certainly a very important tournament for us since it’s a continental qualification event for Paris Olympics 2024″.
“The Indian men’s and women’s teams have to play at their optimum level and therefore it was important for us to withdraw from the Commonwealth Games 2022, which is being held just before the Asian Games 2022. After a scintillating performance by both the Indian teams at the Tokyo Olympics, we are focusing on producing even better results at the Paris Olympic stage”, he added.
