A foot injury brought a premature end to Austin Smith’s time in the Indian Hockey League, but the good news for South African hockey fans is that he will not miss any games for the Proteas because of the injury.
Smith has a Medial Cuneiform Fracture in his right foot after he was hit bay a ball during training. Smith played through the pain initially, but in the end after some extensive flying around in India seeing various specialists the verdict were a fracture and the end of his time at the Ranchi Rhinos.
Smith is not sure yet how long he will be off the hockey field. “With these kinds of injuries it’s very difficult to say exactly how long I will be out of action. There is also still speculation whether it is a stress fracture or an acute fracture. There is a big difference between the recovery periods of the two.”
Smith’s best-case scenario is an acute fracture. “This means 3-4 weeks on crutches and then a further two weeks of gentle progression until I am able to return to full intensity training.”
Even though the timing of the injury is bad, Smith wont miss any international games this season.
“Luckily the injury won't affect my international commitments as I was only going to join the national team at the beginning of April for training. I will however miss a large proportion of my club season, which I am really disappointed about. The challenge will be regaining my international fitness and form in time for the World Cup, which begins at the end of May.”
Smith just recently recovered from Dengue Fever so getting injured at this stage of the season is especially frustrating.
“Injuries are always frustrating now matter when they happen. I feel a little unfortunate after contracting Dengue Fever in July and now with this it hasn't been a great 6 months for me.”
Other big international tournaments for the Proteas this season besides the big one the World Cup, include the Champions Challenge and the Commonwealth Games.
Outsider Communications
Final farewells to Mandeep & Manpreet. Sadly Mandeep will also play no further part in the tournament with a stress fracture in his lower back.
