Hockey Australia has
announced its women’s team for the upcoming World Cup beginning May 31 in The
Hague, Netherlands. The 18-member Hockeyroos side have seven survivors of the
team that finished fifth at the 2010 World Cup – it has nine players who represented
Australia at the 2012 London Olympics.
The world number four outfit has two players - Teneal Attard and Madonna Blyth – who were part of Australia's silver-winning team at the 2006 World Cup. The Hockeyroos have looked good in recent times, winning the Oceania Cup and Hockey World League semifinal tournaments, besides settling for a silver medal finish at the Hockey World League finals in Argentina last November.
The Adam Commens-coached yellow skirts will be hoping for great things from vastly experienced Madonna Blyth, who is poised to surpass Rechelle Hawkes’ tally of 279 games and become Australia’s second most capped player during her side’s warm-up fixtures ahead of the World Cup.
The side also features 2009
world young player of the year Casey Eastham, Ashleigh Nelson and 2012 world
young player of the year Anna Flanagan, who are all bring plenty of experience
to the side having featured in more than hundred international appearances.
The side suffered a
setback when Teneal Attard failed to recover from the stress reaction injury in
her lower leg that kept her out of last month’s Hawke’s Bay Festival in New
Zealand, and she was replaced by Jayde Taylor.
The Hockeyroos have won
the World Cup twice in 1994 and 1998, while finishing runners-up on as many
occasions – 1990 and 2006. At the 2010 World Cup Australia finished fifth. They
will launch their World Cup campaign
against Korea on May 31.
The squad
Jayde Taylor, Madonna
Blyth, Edwina Bone, Jane Claxton, Kirstin Dwyer, Casey Eastham, Anna Flanagan, Emily
Hurtz, Kate Jenner, Jodie Kenny, Rachael Lynch, Karri McMahon, Georgia
Nanscawen, Ashleigh Nelson, Georgie Parker, Emily Smith, Ashlee Wells, Kellie
White.
(The writer can be contacted at: suhridbarua@gmail.com)
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