Rani, teammates recover, to resume training soon

Bengaluru: The Indian women's hockey team skipper Rani Rampal would be looking forward to resuming training at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre here after she and six of her team-mates completely recovered from Covid-19.

Rani, along with experienced goalkeeper Savita Punia, Navjot Kaur, Sharmila Devi, Rajani, Navneet Kaur and Sushila, had tested positive for the virus following their return to the national camp on April 24 after a 10-day break.

Two support staff -- video analyst Amrutaprakash and scientific advisor Wayne Lombard -- had also tested positive, although all of them were asymptomatic.

"Thank you everyone for the love and mental support through messages/calls during the last two weeks. Me and my teammates and support staff are fully recovered from the Covid now," Rani said on Twitter.

"Feeling blessed to have you all as members from our hockey fraternity/friends/fans. Special thanks to Hockey India, SAI for taking good care," said Rani, who spent 14 days in quarantine with all other infected team-mates at the Bengaluru centre.

She urged the people of the country to take extreme precaution and extend every possible help to those in need.

"Extremely sad to know that so many people are losing their loved ones; my prayers for them. Please help as much as you can in any way for your near and dear ones. Let's fight this pandemic together. Stay safe, wear mask and follow all Covid19 guidelines strictly," she said.