MEN'S HOCKEY:Irish forward Peter Caruth has withdrawn from the Irish squad for the upcoming World League Two Tournament in New Delhi, India, due to injury.
The Braxgata player, who scored Ireland’s golden goal winner in the recent Champions Challenge One tournament in Argentina in December, has been struggling with a leg injury and has been unable to train in recent weeks.
The decision to withdraw him from the squad was delayed for as long as possible in the hope that the 65-cap Irish international might have recovered in time.
Where Caruth looses out Monkstown’s David Carson wins as he has been added to the squad by coach Andrew Meredith. Carson has 18 caps and has scored three goals for Ireland. The Irish team will play in three international Tests against Malaysia before their first tournament match on February 18th against Bangladesh.
The Irish Hockey Association (IHA) also narrowly missed out in a bid to bring both the men’s and women’s FIH World League Three tournaments (follows League Two) to Ireland this year.
Although the association submitted formal proposals for the hosting of the two major events, the FIH chose otherwise. It would have been an ideal opportunity for the national teams to compete at the highest level as well as the promotion of the sport and the commercial opportunities it would have presented.
It would also have been beneficial in that it would have avoided expensive trips to New Delhi and Valencia.
IRELAND: D Fitzgerald (Monkstown), D Harte (SV Kampong, Holland), P Gleghorne (Instonians), R Gormley (Krefeld HC, Germany), C Harte (SCHC, Holland), J Jackson (Braxgata, Belgium), S Loughrey (Team Bath Buccaneers), B McCandless (Banbridge), C Cargo (Reading, England), E Magee (Krefeld HC, Germany), G McCabe (Santander, Spain), P Maguire (THC Hurley), P Brown (Banbridge), D Carson (Monkstown), M Darling (Three Rock Rovers), S O’Donoghue (UCD), A Sothern (Pembroke Wanderers), M Watt (SCHC, Holland) Fixtures International Friendlies, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Sunday, February 10th, 11am. Malaysia v Ireland, Kuala Lumpur; Monday, February 11th, Malaysia v Ireland Kuala Lumpur; Wednesday, February 13th, Malaysia v Ireland. World League Two, New Delhi, India (February 18th-24th): Monday, February 18th, Ireland v Bangladesh; Wednesday, February 20th, Ireland v Fiji; Thursday, February 21st, Ireland v India; Saturday, February 23rd, - Ireland v Oman; Sunday, February 24th, Ireland v China.
