COVID-19 hits men's hockey team

Striker Gurjant, coach Graham Reid test positive

The Indian men's hockey team's preparations for the Commonwealth Games was on Thursday hit by a COVID-19 outbreak as five people, including striker Gurjant Singh and head coach Graham Reid, have tested positive for the virus, Bengaluru.

The RT-PCR tests were conducted on Wednesday morning. The infected, who are suffering from mild symptoms, have been placed under isolation.

"Two players and three members of the Support Staff of the Indian Men's Hockey team, currently preparing for the Commonwealth Games 2022 have tested positive for Covid-19," Hockey India said in the media release without naming anyone.

However, a team source said, 'Gurjant and Graham Reid have contracted the infection. Ashok Kumar Chinnaswamy, the video analyst of the side has also tested positive.'

Besides Gurjant, the other player to have tested positive is midfielder Ashis Kumar Topno.

PR Sreejesh, Manpreet Singh, Pawan, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumara and Amit Rohidas are among the 31 players training in the camp being held at the SAI campus.

The players had assembled for the camp after competing at the FIH Hockey Pro League double-headers against Belgium and the Netherlands.

The camp is set to conclude on July 23 ahead of the team's departure for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

India has recorded 18,819 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours. According to the Union Health Ministry data, the active cases in the country are now 104,555 today and the death count stands at 5,25,116 with 39 new Covid fatalities added to the tally.