New South Wales Midfielder, Casey Eastham, eyeing for Champions Trophy
Following an impressive show-off in the practice match, Casey Eastham succeeded to impress the selectors for the forthcoming FIH (International Hockey Federation) Champions Trophy that is scheduled to be held in Amsterdam from June 25 to July 03, 2011.
It is vital to mention here that the midfielder from the New South Wales (NSW), namely Casey Eastham, was eliminated from the Australian Hockey League (AHL) finals due to a hamstring injury. She is one of the legendary youngsters of the Hockeyroos, who was
honoured as Young Player of the Year in 2009 and also included in the Player of the Year nominations back in 2010.
Despite suffering in hamstring, she did work hard to overcome it and succeeded to do so. She exhibited her best in the practice match against English squad and has been picked up for the eight-nation tournament.
Hockeyroos coach, Adam Commens, is quite satisfied over her recovery saying that she contested the entire game against England and proved her fitness. In his views, the NSW player will assist the women’s hockey team of Australia to lift the title in the
upcoming event.
It is vital to mention here that the FIH Champions Trophy is a major assignment ahead of the 2012 London Olympics. Some eight teams are featured in the tournament, which include Argentina, Australia, China, England, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand and
South Korea.
Eastham, the youngster, will be part of the team that is going to face-off the home team of Netherlands in the maiden-contest.
The Hockeyroos trainer further said, “She got through that pretty well and that was a sign she could handle it. I thought she was one of our better performers. It is important that we get some points in the first game. Playing them first-up at home is going
to be difficult for us, but the pressure's going to be on them as well.”
She maintained that they were quite far from Netherlands rankings, so they would have to deliver a lot to defeat them. However, he said that the event would help them out to evaluate their standing before the high-profile teams.
It is worth mentioning here that Germany and the host Holland are quite favourites for top positions in the group stages. If the Hockeyroos want to go in the knockout stage, they will have down one of the two aforementioned teams. In order to enhance the
financial end of the event, the Australian women will have to make an upset.
The Coach is quite confident about the team’s performance against world number one Argentina in the practicing match. It is vital to explain here that Kate Jenner has been dropped from the squad due to back injuries.
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