Hockey: The Irish men's and women's hockey squads for the upcoming World Cup qualifying tournaments in China and Italy were announced this afternoon.
The men's squad, who travel to Changzhou next week ahead of the 12-team tournament, welcome back Karl Burns after the Cork man's recovery from a hamstring injury.
Riet Kuper, the women's coach, includes newcomers Alex Speers and Katharine Elkin in her plans for the qualifiers in Rome at the end of April. Bridget McKeever remains a concern with Louise Healy in line for a call-up should the defender fail to prove her fitness.
"The squad selection was very difficult," explained Kuper. "We have some talented young players coming into the squad who have not experienced major world-ranking international tournaments before. However, the squad has an excellent core of very experienced senior players who give the squad a good balance of youth and experience."
Both tournaments follow the same format with the twelve sides split into two groups. The top two sides from each group will qualify for the World Cup automatically with both third placed sides playing off for the final berth.
Men's squad: Andy Barbour (Cookstown) , Jason Black (Cork Harlequins), Mark Black (Cork Harlequins), Paddy Brown (Instonians), Karl Burns (Cork C of I), Stephen Butler (Glenanne), Timothy Cockram (Lisnagarvey), Mark Gleghorne (Loughborough Students, England), Ronan Gormley (Pembroke), Charlie Henderson (Corinthians), David Hobbs (Cork C of I), Mark Irwin (Instonians), John Jermyn (Cork C of I), Iain Lewers (Annadale), Phelie Maguire (Dublin University), Mark Ruddle (Cork C of I), Graham Shaw (Glenanne), Justin Sherriff (Pembroke)
Women's squad: Suzanne Beaney (Pegasus), Catriona Carey (Hermes), Linda Caulfield (Hermes), Fiona Connery (Hermes), Eimear Cregan (Push), Zanya Dahl (Old Alex), Katharine Elkin (Randalstown), Fiona Ferguson (Pegasus), Mary Goode (Cork Harlequins), Jenny McDonough (Belfast Harlequins), Cathy McKean (Loreto), Bridget McKeever (Ballymoney), Ciara O'Brien (Railway), Jill Orbinson (Pegasus), Clare Parkhill (Randalstown) , Angela Platt (Ballymoney), Alex Speers (Pegasus), Nikki Symmons (Loreto)