June The Indian men and women's hockey core probables group, who were based at SAI Centre in Bengaluru, will be given a month-long break, announced Hockey India on Friday.
While the women's group were in SAI since February for the national coaching camp, the men's group arrived in Bengaluru in the first week of March after notable performance against Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands respectively in the FIH Hockey Pro League earlier this year.
It has been decided that the athletes will be recalled on July 19 to resume sports activities as part of their preparations for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Having spent the nationwide lockdown at the SAI centre, the athletes had begun basic sports activities since June 10 however, basis consultation with the teams chief coaches Graham Reid and Sjoerd Marijne, it was unanimously decided that the players be allowed to take a break of four weeks.
Mohd. Mushtaque Ahmad, President, Hockey India said, "Having consulted with the chief coaches of both the teams, Hockey India decided that it was important to give the players a much-needed break."
"These have been challenging times for everyone and I must credit the teams' coaching staff who ensured the players physical and mental well-being during the nationwide lockdown when hockey training was suspended."
Ahmad further said that during this break, the players have been advised to follow all the guidelines provided by the government.
"The players have been specifically briefed that they need to adhere to government guidelines during this break and continue to follow social distancing. We are very proud of how our players have handled this situation over the last three-four months and have stayed strong as a unit.
"It is important they continue to act responsibly during this break. We believe this time off will help players return to Bengaluru feeling fresh mentally and physically in order to resume preparations for the Olympic Games," Ahmad said.
( With inputs from IANS )