BENGALURU: Indian women hockey team midfielder Navjot Kaur says missing a major tournament like the 2022 Commonwealth Games (CWG) was "hard to accept" as she could not compete in Birmingham Games after contracting COVID-19.
The 27-year-old Navjot got infected after reaching Birmingham and was forced to fly back home.
"It was disappointing to leave like that. It was very difficult and hard for me to accept," Navjot, who has more than 200 international caps, said on the sidelines of national camp here.
"I haven't missed out on any major tournament ever before, so I was dealing with this situation for the first time in my career," she said.
Navjot tested positive when she was in Nottingham for a training camp.
"I had no major symptoms and was hopeful of getting back to the team by the time we moved to the village. I was being tested every day and unfortunately, it kept showing positive readings," she recollected.
After returning home the seasoned player from Kurukshetra kept cheering for the team from home.
India lost to Australia in the semifinal in a controversial penalty shootout, but beat defending champions New Zealand in the bronze-medal playoff, winning their first CWG medal in 16 years.
The 2002 CWG champions, India bagged a silver in the following edition in Melbourne. The side had finished fourth in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur and in Gold Coast in 2018.
"I watched all the matches with my family. It was heartbreaking to see the team lose against Australia with a very narrow margin.
"But, the way the team bounced back to win the bronze medal was really inspiring. The World Cup campaign was also disappointing. We were playing quite well, it's just that the results weren't in our favour.
"But, really proud of the team for the way they fought back and ended the long Europe tour with a historic bronze medal," she said.
Having returned to the training camp at the SAI Centre in Bengaluru, Navjot said team's next goal is to qualify for the Pro League.
"We have got a good amount of time to prepare for the Women's Nations Cup in December 2022, which will help us qualify for the next edition of the FIH Hockey Pro League," she concluded.
