Imagine the Commonwealth Games gold medal-winning women hockey players walking about five km to fetch water during a training camp. That is exactly what they had to endure at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru stadium.
"We have come here to prepare the team for important tournaments. But, unfortunately, the girls were forced to carry buckets to the National stadium to fetch water," their coach, M K Kaushik, lamented on Thursday.
The hockey players, who are staying at the Nehru stadium, were forced to carry buckets to the National stadium, the venue of their camp, about 5 km away, to meet their daily needs of water for cleaning and washing.
Kaushik said it came as a shock to the players and affected their training.
"How can one focus on the game if such things happen. This has certainly come as a shock to many players and had a negative effect on their preparations," he said.
The coach of India's 1998 Asian Games gold medal-winning men's team said though the girls came to Delhi on Saturday, they had to wait till yesterday for the Sports Authority of India to sort out the problem.
"Now things are all right and SAI has provided us with tankers. But this should not have happened during a camp. The authorities should have taken precautionary measures."
Members of both the junior and senior teams reached Delhi on Saturday for the camp, which began the next day at the National stadium. The camp for the seniors will be held till August 10 while the one for the junior players will continue till August 25 before the team embarks on a tour of Japan for an international tournament.