Such is the quality of the company they’ll be keeping in July’s World Cup, the draw for the tournament was always going to present Ireland with a tough challenge - but having been placed in the same pool as reigning world and Olympic champions the Netherlands as well as Germany, ranked at five in the world, that challenge couldn’t be much tougher.
Also in the pool are newcomers Chile, the lowest ranked nation of the 16 competitors.
The Netherlands, who, of course, beat Ireland in the 2018 final, are co-hosting the tournament with Spain and will have home advantage for their pool games at least. Ireland will, then, be based in Amsterdam for this phase of the tournament and will play their games at the city’s Wagener Stadium.
The match schedule is still to be confirmed, but provisionally Ireland are due to open their campaign against the Dutch on July 2nd, before taking on Chile and Germany on July 5th and 6th, respectively. Tickets for the games will go on sale on March 1st on wkhockey2022.com.
Ireland last played Chile in a four-match series in Santiago in January 2019, winning one, drawing two and losing one of the games. Chile have, though, come a long way since then, producing the chief shock of the qualification process for this World Cup when they beat the United States in the semi-finals of last month’s Pan American Cup.
Ireland’s most recent meeting with the Dutch, at last summer’s Olympic Games, ended in a 4-0 defeat, while they lost 4-2 to the Germans in the same event.
Back on the club front, Railway Union are in EuroHockey indoor action in Turkey this weekend where they will face opponents from England, the Czech Republic, Austria, Turkey and Scotland.
Pegasus, meanwhile, will attempt to cut Pembroke Wanderers’ lead at the top of the EY Hockey League table when they take on Old Alexandra at Milltown, while Banbridge and Catholic Institute will be aiming for a place in the last four of the Irish Senior Cup for the first time when they play their re-scheduled quarter-final at Havelock Park.
World Cup draw (world ranking in brackets)
Pool A: Netherlands (1), Germany (5), Ireland (12), Chile (17)
Pool B: England (3), New Zealand (8), India (9), China (14)
Pool C: Argentina (2), Spain (6), Korea (11), Canada (13)
Pool D: Australia (4), Belgium (7), Japan (10), South Africa (16).
Upcoming fixtures
Saturday - Hockey League: Old Alexandra v Pegasus, Milltown, 1.30. Irish Senior Cup - quarter-final: Banbridge v Catholic Institute, Havelock Park, 2.45.
