The Birmingham Commonwealth Games is scheduled to be held in 2022. But it seems there will be fewer Indian participants in this Birmingham 2022 games as shooting and archery have been dropped out and now the Indian hockey team also seems unlikely to be seen in these games as said by the Indian Olympic Association President Narinder Batra.
The Indian men’s hockey team who is in 3rd rank in the FIH ranking also participated in the Tokyo Olympics 2020. The team won a historic bronze after defeating Germany by 5-4 in the bronze medal match. The Indian Olympic Association President named Narinder Batra said that it is less likely that the team is going to participate in the Birmingham 2022 CWG. It is because Narinder is eyeing a gold medal from the Indian hockey team from both men and women in the Asian Games which will also be held in 2022 in September which will directly confirm the qualifications of hockey India in the Paris 2024 Olympics.
IOA chief doesn’t want the hockey team to get tired while playing in CWG and not perform well in the Asian Games 2022 which is to be held between 10th September and 22nd September, just 35 days after the Commonwealth games. The chief is also concerned about the injury that could be sustained by their players in the Commonwealth games.
“Based on my preliminary discussions with Hockey India, it seems doubtful as of now whether Indian men and women hockey teams will participate in Commonwealth Games 2022,” Batra said as stated by PTI.
