Hockey is one of the sports that has been excluded from the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. The Commonwealth Games Federation confirmed today (October 22) that the 23rd edition of the Games will be played from July 23 to August 2 in 2026 in Glasgow. Only 10 sports have been included and apart from hockey, cricket, badminton, table tennis, squash and wrestling are some of the sports to be dropped from the roster.
Indian men's hockey team won the silver medal at Birmingham CWG in 2022. The team led by Harmanpreet Singh won the bronze medal at Paris Olympics earlier this year and at least a medal was certain in CWG in 2026 given the kind of performance the men in blue have been putting up over the last few years.
However, India skipper Harmanpreet Singh was unaware that hockey has been excluded from CWSG 2026 in Glasgow and expressed his disappointment when he got to know of the same on the eve of the bilateral series against Germany in Delhi. He stated that the team was targeting a gold medal at CWG after missing out last time around.
"I came to know just now. Me and the coach were on the same page, focusing on playing Germany. We were targeting CWG as well, it was a big tournament and our target this time was to win the gold. But unfortunately, it won't happen now. These things are not in our hands so can't do much," Harmanpreet Singh said while talking to reporters ahead of the series against Germany.
India head coach Craig Fulton, however, downplayed the development stressing that the team is completely focused on facing Germany over the next two days. "It is what it is. Unfortunate and at the same time, we are thinking about the upcoming series vs Germany. That's further down the line so currently the focus is on playing Germany," Fulton said.
For the unversed, India's hockey team is all set to face Paris Olympics silver medallist Germany in the two-match series. Both matches will be played at the iconic Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi on October 23 and 24.
