WOMEN'S HOCKEY:FEW, IF any, Irish squads have gone in to a major tournament better prepared, Gene Muller's players having had training camps and matches in Spain, South Africa and New Zealand since the turn of the year and games against Britain and France in Dublin.
But Ireland's task at their Olympic Qualifier in Canada, which starts tomorrow, remains a daunting one, with Korea the firm favourites to take the sole qualifying spot for this summer's Olympic Games.
Ireland, though, are the tournament's second seeds, which means they should be capable of reaching Sunday week's final, the winners of which will book their spot in Beijing.
To reach the decider, however, Muller's charges must successfully navigate their way to a top-two finish in the pool phase of the six-team event.
The seedings would suggest Ireland should open with three wins, against Malaysia (tomorrow), Canada (Sunday) and Uruguay (Tuesday), before meeting with the Koreans on Thursday, and that Italy, too, should be beatable in their final pool game, on Saturday week.
The tournament hosts, though, and the Italians could prove tricky opponents.
Canada, with whom Ireland drew 1-1 in a 40-minute practice match on Wednesday, might only be ranked at 23 in the world, compared to Ireland's position of 14th, but they are well prepared for the event, and their coach, Sally Bell, will be more than familiar with several of the Irish players, having been assistant to Riet Kuper, Muller's predecessor in the Irish job, for two years.
The Italians have proved to be awkward opponents in the past too, although Ireland got the better of them (3-0) at last summer's European Championships in Manchester.
"We will take this one game at a time but we need to get ourselves into a good position early on so we are in contention towards the end of the tournament," said a cautious Muller.
"In the first two games we really want to come out with at least four points. Ideally we don't want to drop more than two points and put ourselves up against a wall; we want to be in contention all the way through."
While Muller has introduced several young players to his squad since his appointment last year the core of the panel he has taken to Canada is a hugely experienced one, with captain Eimear Cregan, Ciara O'Brien, Jenny McDonough and Bridget McKeever all with over 100 caps each and Loreto pair Cathy McKean and Nikki Symmons approaching the century mark.
The first task for the team will be to avoid slip-ups against the teams seeded below them.
If they do that then they will be 70 minutes away from qualifying for Beijing on Sunday week.
There is, though, plenty of work to be done before then.
Ireland's schedule
Tomorrow: Ireland v Malaysia, 4.35
Sunday: Ireland v Canada, 2.35
Tuesday: Ireland v Uruguay, 12.35
Thursday: Ireland v Korea, 12.35
Saturday: Ireland v Italy, 4.35
Sunday: Classification matches
All times are local - Victoria, Canada, is eight hours behind Ireland.
Seedings
(world rankings in brackets)
1 Korea (9)
2 Ireland (14)
3 Italy (19)
4 Canada (23)
5 Malaysia (24)
6 Uruguay (27)
Irish squad
Name Club Age Caps
Ciara O'Brien Chelmsford 28 144
Eimear Cregan(capt) Cork Harlequins 26 131
Jenny McDonough Belfast Harlequins 26 102
Bridget McKeever Ballymoney 25 105
Cathy McKean Loreto 29 96
Nikki Symmons Loreto 25 93
Clare Parkhill Randalstown 27 62
Emma Stewart Armagh 20 48
Emma Clarke Randalstown 22 45
Name Club Age Caps
Mary Goode (GK) Pembroke Wand 28 42
Shirley McCay Randalstown 19 40
Alex Speers Pegasus 22 35
Julia O'Halloran UCC 19 31
Louisa Healy (GK) Loreto 26 27
Lisa Jacob UCD 20 23
Cliodhna Sargent Cork Harlequins 20 23
Louisa Moore Pembroke Wand 23 11
Hollie Moffett UCC 22 8
