SYDNEY, 24 May 2005 — This week’s Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia is a vital part of Australia’s plans to claim the field hockey gold medals at the 2005 Champions Trophy and 2006 Commonwealth Games, coach Barry Dancer said yesterday.
An 18-player Australian squad, featuring 11 gold medalists from last year’s Athens Olympics, has arrived in Kuala Lumpur for the seven-nation Cup.
The invitational tournament, which gets under way on Thursday, will be Australia’s first international hit-out since winning gold in Athens. It will also be the Australians’ first tournament in a 10-month schedule culminating with the Melbourne Commonwealth Games next March.
The Australian squad will spend eight weeks together between now and the December 10-18 Chennai Champions Trophy, and Dancer views the next two weeks in Malaysia as vital to his side’s long-term preparations.
“We’re relying very much on this tournament to actually forge greater team cohesion,” Dancer told Australian Associated Press yesterday.
“It will be important for us to start well and use this as a stepping stone to our next tour to Europe in August.
“I think we can be successful and win the tournament. It’s not absolutely crucial we do, but with the group of players we’re taking, I think we should go in as favorites.”
Only three Athens gold medalists are missing the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup — retirees Michael Brennan and Mark Hickman and suspended midfielder Troy Elder.
