Xalxo to miss Germany four-nation tourney

Defender William Xalxo was ruled out of the four-nation invitational men's hockey tournament in Germany from April 15 to 17 due to an ankle injury.

Defender William Xalxo was on Tuesday ruled out of the four-nation invitational men's hockey tournament in Germany from April 15 to 17 due to an ankle injury.

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Xalxo, who has been carrying a niggle for quite some time, aggravated it further during the Commonwealth Games and now requires a month's break to heal it up.

"It was a minor niggle which got aggravated during the Commonwealth Games. It is likely to take a month to heal up completely," Xalxo said.

New coach V Baskaran said that the full back had informed him about his unaviability.

"He informed me about his injury in the afternmoon today and sought to skip the tour," Baskaran said.

However, the coach expressed satisfaction over the way the preparation camp took off on Tuesday.

"We had two practice sessions and it was interesting working with the players," he said.

Vikram Pillay and Shivendra Singh were yet to join the team. "They are expected to join tonight or tomorrow," Baskaran said.

"The Germany event may be a three-day tournament but since we have 10 days left for preparation, I would take it seriously," he said.