Dan Clement Plots Welsh Hockey World Rankings Surge

By Rob Cole

 

Dan Clements is going to be a busy man over the next week as he follows the fortunes of the Welsh international hockey teams in Cardiff and Glasgow.

The women kick-off their EuroHockey II campaign on home turf at Sophia Gardens on Sunday, 5 August, while the men start their push for promotion north of the border. Both teams go into the tournaments on the back of some great recent results and Clements doesn’t want to miss a moment.

“It’s going to be a busy week, that’s for sure. I’m in Cardiff for the opening game for the women against Austria and then up to Glasgow on Monday for three days,” said Clements, Head of performance at Welsh Hockey.

“I’ll be back in Cardiff for the knock-out stages and we have high hopes for both teams. They have been doing really well, made significant progress and are in good shape coming into their respective tournaments.”

The women are in Pool B with the Austrians, Poland and Belarus, while the men are grouped with Russia, Switzerland and their opening opponents, the Czech Republic. On the other side of the draw in Cardiff are France, Ukraine, Italy and Russia, while the men’s team could meet Ukraine, France, Scotland or Portugal in the knock out stages.

The Welsh women warmed up for the championships by notching significant series wins over Poland 3-0, Scotland 3-0 and overcoming the Czech Republic 2-0 with one game drawn this year. All three nations are ahead of them in the official world rankings.

“The women are ranked 26^th in the world and the men are 32^nd. Both have jumped up the rankings in the last few years and are currently within the top 10 teams from the Commonwealth in the rankings,” added Clements.

“That’s important because it will be the top 10 teams who are invited to compete in the Gold Coast next year. If the two teams finish in the top half of their competitions this week then that should be good enough to book their tickets.

“You can only gain ranking points in competitions like these, so the outcome is important. It should be a big advantage for the women playing on home soil and they have been in great form this year.

“We have known for a while that there is some serious potential in our women’s squad and it has been a big breakthrough getting Sarah Jones and Rose Thomas into the British training squad. There is no doubt there was a huge impact on British women’s hockey from the Olympic gold medal win in Rio and now it is time for Wales to play its part.”

 

 

EuroHockey 11, Cardiff
Pool A: France, Ukraine, Italy, Russia
Pool B: Poland, Belarus, Austria, Wales

Fixtures
Sunday, 6 August
Pool A: France v Ukraine (11.15), Italy v Russia (13.30)
Pool B: Poland v Belarus (15.45), Austria v Wales (18.00)
Monday, 7 August
Pool A: Russia v Ukraine (15.45), France v Italy (18.00)
Pool B: Belarus v Austria (15.45), Poland v Wales (18.00)
Wednesday, 9 August
Pool A: Italy v Ukraine (11.15), Russia v France (13.30)
Pool B: Austria v Poland (15.45), Belarus v Wales (18.00)
Friday, 11 August
4th Pool A v 4th Pool B (09.30), 3rd Pool A v 3rd Pool B (11.45)
Semi Final 1: 1st Pool B v 2nd Pool A (14.00)
Semi Final 2: 1st Pool A  v 2nd Pool B (16.30)
Saturday, 12 August
3rd Pool A v 4th Pool B (09.30)
3rd Pool B v 4th Pool A (11.45)
3rd/4th place: Loser SF1 v Loser SF2 (14.00)
Final: Winner SF1 v Winner SF2  (16.30)