Announcement of the New Zealand Men’s squad for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup
A 21-member Men’s hockey squad has been pronounced by Coach Shane McLeod for playing the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Invitational Tournament in May, representing New Zealand in Ipoh, Malaysia.
Total seven teams are taking part in this tournament including Korea, Great Britain, Malaysia, Australia, India and Pakistan.
In addition to the new players competing for the Azlan Cup, there would be a few value additions of the veteran players that were not available in the summer series. These are Dean Couzins, Phil Burrows and Kyle Pontifex along with another experienced player,
Gareth Brooks, who has been announced for the squad on his return to the national programme.
Only 18 players out of them will be short-listed to take part in the event. Many among these are the players who competed in the recently held Malaysia Airlines Golden Summer Series, including James Coughlan.
“The Azlan Shah is a top international tournament that will give us the chance to play against teams that we are likely to compete against at next year’s Olympics. We have selected players that performed well in the Summer Series so that we can provide exposure
to new players and build depth,” said McLeod.
The coach commented about Gareth by saying that he will turn out to be an asset for the team who would not only just share his expertise in the game but also assist the less-experienced young forwards.
The coach also emphasised over the fact that their prime motive over the next six weeks is to improve the younger players in the team. He stated that they would particularly focus on the game plans and methodologies so that the new youngsters can learn better
about the game strategies. The Azlan Shah will give players a wonderful chance to compete against the World’s top teams and know about the different playing styles.
The Azlan Shah, starting on May 5 is considered to be the first international event to head the team’s way towards the 2012 London Olympics.
The names of the selected squad-members include the strikers James Coughlan, Gareth Brooks, Hugo Inglis, Stephen Jenness, Simon Child, Phil Burrows and Nick Wilson; the defenders David Green, Andy Hayward, Dean Couzins, Nick Haig, Blair Tarrant and Richard
Petherick; the mid-fielders Blair Hilton, Marcus Child, Arun Panchia, Shea McAleese, Ben Collier and Steve Edwards and the goalkeepers Stephen Graham and Kyle Pontifex.
It will be interesting to see how New Zealand performs during the mega event. With the top teams from around the World competing, it will give the New Zealanders some exciting matches. Most of the teams will be using this tournament to get their squads ready
for the upcoming 2012 London Olympics.
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