Olympic Games Beijing 2022 / hockey: Peter Cehlárik had a positive test

The program of hockey matches of Slovakia at the Winter Olympics in Beijing
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The national team has had its first two days of isolation. The players underwent PCR testing on both Saturday and Sunday. After two negative results, they could jump on the ice and train.

“Today we had eleven players and two goalkeepers in training. So far, it’s very good, except for Petr Cehlárik, who was positive. We will follow his development from day to day and decide what to do next in his case,” informed the assistant general manager of the team Oto Haščák on the website hockeyslovakia.sk.

Other players joined the team on Sunday. However, Mário Grman, Martin Gernát, Martin Pospíšil, Marko Daňo, Martin Marinčin, Miloš Roman and Michal Krištof have so far passed only one PCR test. According to the plan, they could join the training process on Tuesday. “Altogether we have 21 players at our disposal. Four more from the Czech extra league will come, but they will come directly to us in Beijing on February 4th,” added Hascak.

For players who skated on the ice on Monday, the training fell in handy. However, the two-day isolation in the hotel room was not workable. “I was really looking forward to it. I missed hockey.” said Samuel Takáč, who has not played for a long time due to hand injuries and COVID-19 disease. “The hand is fine now. I was ready to play earlier, unfortunately the covid stopped it. I’m well prepared. I just rode the ice for a month and worked out in the gym. I had quasi-summer training. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel like Covid.”

The first training of Samuel Kňažko, who arrived from the USA and underwent a time shift during the two-day quarantine, did a little harder: “I had a little heavier legs. My hands didn’t work with my legs. But it certainly worked for everyone. There were only eleven of us on the ice, but another one will join tomorrow and we’ll be in full force.”

Slovaks will complete another training in the Bratislava “bubble” on Tuesday. On Wednesday, 21 hockey players together with members of the implementation team will pack up and at 15.00 will take a bus to Vienna’s Schwechat Airport, from which they will head to Istanbul at 7.40 pm, where they will change to a flight to Beijing.

In the Chinese capital, the national team completes one preparatory match, and on February 7, from 12.30 CET, they will play against Germany. From Thursday, February 10, he will face sharp matches in the C-group against Finland, Sweden and Latvia.

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