CWG 2022: India hockey player Navjot Kaur to fly back after testing COVID+

Birmingham: Navjot Kaur, who beat COVID-19 in 2021 to come back into the squad for Tokyo Olympics, will not be able to do so this time, as she flies back to India after testing positive here at the Commonwealth Games 2022.

She had been kept in isolation, but has now been told she is ‘fit to fly’ but she is obviously not alright to play. India has already played one match and beaten Ghana 5-0.

According to team officials, the CT value was not high and doctors said it was not going to be infectious.

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Navjot, 27, an experienced player, was part of the Indian team that won a silver medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and a bronze in Incheon Asiad in 2014. She was also a member of the team winning gold in the 2016 Asian Champions Trophy and 2017 Asia Cup.

Navjot’s place will be taken by Sonika.

Navjot had tested positive last year, too, ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. She was one of the seven who had tested positive, but after a 14-day quarantine period, she recovered in time to make the team and the Olympic Games.

The Indian women’s hockey team looking to find a place on the podium for the first time since 2006 was dealt a blow.

Also read: Commonwealth Games 2022: India’s schedule for Day 2, July 30

Two women cricketers, Pooja Vastrakar and S Meghana, had tested positive, but that was before leaving India. Both have recovered and Meghana has already joined the team. Pooja is also expected to arrive soon.

The Indian team officials have asked the sportspersons not to go out and restrict outdoor movement and stay away from crowded places in Birmingham, which is hosting the first multi-discipline event since the start of the pandemic to be held without major COVID-19 restrictions.