19/3/2008

Sport

Hockey - Surbiton stars look forward to Beijing Olympics

SURBITON’S Great Britain players say they are delighted to have helped the national side qualify for the Beijing Olympics in August.

Great Britain earned their place in China after last week winning a qualification tournament in Chile.

National team captain Ben Hawes, one of six Surbiton players in Great Britain squad, said he was pleased to be heading for Beijing.

“We are delighted and fairly relieved. It still hasn’t quite sunk in,” said Hawes.

“It has been a long process, so it is certainly a relief to have finally qualified.”

The Surbiton six - Hawes, Rob Moore, James Tindall, Matt Daly, Richard Alexander and Ben Marsden - helped Great Britain beat Mexico, Russia, Chile and Austria in the pool stage of the Santiago qualification competition, before claiming a 2-0 victory over India in the final.

Hawes said the team felt confident before their crucial final match against India.

“It never really crossed our minds that we would not be going to Beijing,” he said.

“We have not lost a game this year against teams of various standards and that run of form gave us the belief that we could do it.”

Rob Moore, who scored three goals in Chile, said everything rested on the outcome of the final match against India, with the winner taking the sole remaining Olympic place.

“There is always a danger in a one-off game that you can slip up or something unexpected can happen, so it was a relief to beat India and secure our place,” said Moore.

Having earned a place in Beijing, Hawes said Great Britain have a good chance of making an impact at the games.

“If we play as we have done we can cause some upsets,” he said.

“We know that the way we are playing now we are consistently beating teams below us and round us in the world, which has been the difference recently.

“When it comes to the Olympics, if you can beat the teams around you and get some good results against some of the higher ranked sides then you can suddenly find yourself in which a shot at the end.”

Hawes and Moore are among of a handful of survivors from Great Britain’s last Olympic outing in Athens four years ago.

Moore said that should he be selected for the 16-strong squad travelling to China, he will be able to help his less experienced team mates cope with playing at the world’s biggest sporting event.

“Having had the experience of going to the Olympics should prepare those of us who have been before for what is going to come and we can help the guys who have not been before by telling them what to expect,” he said.

Hawes added: “Although only some of us have experience of playing in Athens, the squad is very experienced and has played in many big games and tournaments like the Commonwealth Games.”

Although the final training squad for Beijing has yet to be finalised, Hawes and Moore will return to Bisham Abbey this week with the rest of the Chile qualifier squad to begin preparations.

Hawes said the emphasis will be on getting the players in the best possible condition.

“We have done a lot of work on our fitness recently,” he said. “With 16 rather than 18 squad members going to China, the demands on the players will be all the greater, so fitness will be key.

“In Santiago we were the fittest side in the competition and we a probably among the fittest two or three sides in the world at the moment.

“However, for the Olympics that fitness will need to move up another notch, so there is a lot of work to do between now and August so that every man is at the peak of his fitness for the tournament.”

First printed in: News & Mail Series