Irish women finally set to jet off for Chile tilt

Ireland’s senior women’s hockey team have finally mapped a path to their World Cup qualification campaign in Chile, following a week of uncertainty. The flight disruption caused by the volcanic ash cloud left the Irish side, who were due to fly to Santiago via Paris last Sunday, unable to leave the country. Players were sent home as a result, and with Malaysia and Scotland’s travel plans also affected, it left just two of the sides competing in the qualifier – favourites Australia and hosts Chile – in situ in Santiago.

However, the Irish Hockey Association yesterday confirmed that the Irish squad will now fly to Chile this weekend. The squad has been split in two to facilitate the earliest possible arrival with 12 of the squad and management travelling on Saturday and 11 on Sunday, each group arriving at 7.30am the day after departure. While the tournament had been due to begin on Saturday, the late arrival of the European sides and Malaysia – who were participating in warm-up tournament in Germany – scuppered the initial plans. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has released the new schedule for the tournament, the main implication of which is the lack of a ‘final’ to determine the winner. Previous tournaments have seen the side play each other in a round-robin format, with the top two playing off to determine the qualifier. But the revised schedule will see the side who finishes top of the pile after the round robin games qualify. Chile and Australia are both already on site in Santiago so will play each other this Saturday, before the competition takes rest days on Sunday and Monday to facilitate the arrival of the other three sides. Ireland begin their campaign on Wednesday against Malaysia, before taking on the Scots a day later. They have Friday off before meeting Chile on Saturday, hopefully teeing up a winner-takes-all clash with the Hockyroos on Sunday. ESB chief executive Padraig McManus, and title sponsor of women’s hockey in the country, was upbeat about Ireland’s chances despite the tough draw. Speaking at UCD, he said: “This is a tremendously challenging time for Irish Women’s Hockey and our national team certainly has to face tough competition in Chile. But I have every confidence that their combined skill, determination and extraordinary team spirit will bring them through to represent Ireland in the World Cup later this year in Argentina. I wish the captain, Eimear Cregan and the team every success in the World Cup Qualifiers in Chile.”