Women's team denied permission to cheer men in blue

Published>Tue, Mar 02 10 03:08 PM

It is the ultimate insult. The women's hockey team wanted to come and cheer their male counterparts in the World Cup, but were denied permission by the organisers, apparently due to security reasons.

Confirming the incident, chief women's coach Maharaj Kishen Kaushik said the team is not going to come to the Capital now. Speaking to Mail Today from Bhopal where the women's team is currently practising, Kaushik said that he had sent a proposal to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Hockey India about the women players being keen to come and cheer for the men's team.

"I had personally written to the SAI and Hockey India that the women's team wanted to come to the Capital on March 10 and stay on till March 13," he said.

Kaushik added that his wards also wanted to avail the poly grass practice pitches. "We felt it was a good opportunity to come to the National Stadium as our team will soon leave for Japan and China to play a Test series.

"But then due to security reasons, out team was refused permission," he said. The team will now come to Delhi on March 16 morning and leave for Japan the same night. The opening Test against Japan is on March 18 in Tokyo. "We would have loved to cheer our team. Also, we would have got a good chance to practice on poly grass turf. "We are very disappointed that we could not watch the World Cup live and will have to be content with watching it on TV," said a player.

Meanwhile, Kaushik was satisfied with the practice sessions the team had in Bhopal. "Our team has been having intense training sessions for the last one month. The girls are really performing well and I have am sure they will give a good account of themselves in the Test series against Japan and China," he said. Kaushik was of the view that fitness was the one area where the team had really improved upon.

"Without doubt, improving fitness has been our main focus. The fitness of our players has improved tremendously. They have put in a lot of hardwork and it is showing now," he said. On the upcoming Test series against Japan and China, Kaushik said the series against these two teams would be a test of strength for India. "These teams, especially China, are very good. So it will be a real test for our women," he said.

Source: Web Search