Indian hockey teams likely to miss Commonwealth Games to prepare for Asian Games

The Indian hockey men's and women's teams will be prioritizing the Asian Games over the next year’s Birmingham Commonwealth Games. Both prestigious events are scheduled very close to each other. It would be a logical decision to play the Asian Games as a gold medal in the event would ensure India’s automatic qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The Asian Games start just 35 days after the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. The decision to prioritize the Asian Games was taken by Indian Olympic Association President Narinder Batra. This was done to ensure and enable the Indian hockey teams to hit their peak performance at the Asian Games.

Narinder Batra conveyed the decision to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Director General Sandip Pradhan during a formal meeting.

The Birmingham Commonwealth Games are scheduled to be held from July 28 to August 8. The Asian Games will be held from September 10 to 15 in Hangzhou, China.

Narinder Batra, in a statement, said:

"Based on my preliminary discussions with Hockey India, it seems doubtful as of now whether the Indian men's and women's hockey teams will participate in the Commonwealth Games 2022. Hockey India will not want its hockey athletes to peak 35 days before the Asian Games 2022 and would like the athletes to peak at the right time i.e. during the 2022 Asian Games."

On this Day, the Indian Men’s Hockey Team won the Silver Medal in a nail-biting match against the host at the 1973 Men’s World Cup, held in Netherlands.👏🥈#IndiaKaGame pic.twitter.com/rnqSPJhFUr

— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) September 2, 2021

Narinder Batra added:

“The Commonwealth Games in 2022 are just 35 days before the Asian Games in China and in hockey, the winners of the Asian Games directly qualify for 2024 Paris Olympics. Hence, winning a gold medal in the Asian Games is a must for both men's and women's hockey teams.”

Hockey, archery, shooting miss from CWG

In the last edition of the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast in 2018, India sent a 216-member contingent. They finished third in the medals table with 26 gold medals, 20 silver and as many bronze medals.

However, with shooting and archery dropped from the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and with hockey teams missing, the Indian contingent will be far smaller.

Narinder Batra said the medals from the Commonwealth Games will be much less this time around. He added:

"The size of the Indian contingent for the Commonwealth Games 2022 will be much less than in 2018 and the medals will also be proportionately less for India."