After missing out on the Birmingham Commonwealth Games hockey final against Australia due to a knee injury, India Midfielder Vivek Sagar Prasad says he has recovered and looks forward to joining his teammates for the preparatory camp for men’s hockey World The Cup 2023 is to be held in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela in January next year.
The national camp will begin here on August 29 and Prasad expressed hope that the team’s support staff will assess his recovery and plan the workload accordingly.
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The team suffered a major setback ahead of the Commonwealth Games when the youngster, who by then was a livewire in midfield, was ruled out of the gold medal match due to a knee injury. In Prasad’s absence, Australia beat India 7-0 to win the gold medal in Birmingham.
“It was just a minor injury. After resting in the last weeks, I look forward to joining the camp with my teammates and starting my preparations for the World Cups in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela in January. I am sure the team support staff will assess my recovery once I join on camp basis, which they will plan for my workload,” Prasad said.
On how it felt to miss the final against Australia, Prasad said, “It was disappointing not to play the CWG final. I was devastated. It is a big deal for any player to reach the final of such a prestigious tournament. It was devastating for me to play a good campaign to reach the final and then pull out of the summit clash due to injury,” he said.
“I really wanted to be there for my team on that special day. However, that happens in sports. So, the only thing we can do right now is move on.”
This was Prasad’s second appearance at the Commonwealth Games. In 2018, at the Gold Coast CWG, he was the youngest player on the team. While it was exciting for him at the age of 17, the team returned home without a medal.
“The Commonwealth Games in 2018 was my first experience of a multi-disciplinary sporting event. I was quite young and was really excited. But it was disappointing for us as a team. This time, we were sure of a good show, but again in the finale things did not go as planned,” he said.
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