The Indian men's hockey team is set to skip Friday's opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics 2016 ostensibly to remain fresh for its Group B opening fixture against Ireland scheduled tomorrow. According to PTI, sources in the team said the men's side has decided to give the opening ceremony a miss due to the ill-fitting attire provided the Indian management.
However, the women's team will participate in the ceremony.
"The kit that was handed to the players has not fit most of them. The players didn't have the time to check the clothes since they reached Rio quite late and were given the kit on the day they started their trip," a source said.
Talking to PTI, Hockey India President Narinder Batra said, "We have a match tomorrow, so we don't want to drain the players because the ceremony will go on for a long time." The men's hockey team, which last won an Olympic medal in the 1980 Games (gold), is aiming to end the medal drought riding on a good build-up to the Games.
