IRELAND’S Olympic hockey adventure begins on Saturday against Tokyo gold medallists Belgium, and David Harte hopes their one-game-at-a-time approach can help them cause a few shocks.
After their opening Pool B game, Ireland will face Australia, India, Argentina and New Zealand, and the top four teams from both pools will qualify for the knockout stages.
‘I am hoping we can put five really good performances together,’ said David, who captained the Irish team at the 2016 Olympic Games.
‘Looking back at Rio, three of the games we had ended in 3-2 losses, against the then reigning champions Germany, the powerhouse that is India and the Olympic champions-in-waiting Argentina, and we had a victory against Canada. It was fine margins and we were in every game except the second one against the Dutch.
‘I want us to tackle the pool phase head on, it will be one step at a time, put five performances back to back and see where that takes us.’
David wants Ireland to reach the quarter-finals and go further than before, but he knows, too, the calibre of the opposition that they will face in their five group games. In the current world rankings, Ireland stands at number 11, while Belgium (3), Australia (4), Argentina (6), India (7) and New Zealand (10) are all ranked higher than Ireland.
West Cork man David is one of only two survivors from the Ireland hockey team that competed at the Rio Games in 2016; Shane O’Donoghue (Dublin) is the other. David’s twin brother, Conor, was on that Ireland team too, but is not involved in the current squad.
‘There is a bit of empty feeling – that’s the best way to describe it. He is a guy I have stood shoulder to shoulder with for 200-plus caps, and went to all the major events with. It’s still a hard one to take, and still raw for him until after the Games. He is supporting me all the way and that means the world to me,’ added David.
Ireland’s Olympic Pool B fixtures are as follows:
Saturday, July 27th – 9.30am, Ireland v Belgium
Monday, July 29th – 9am, Ireland v Australia
Tuesday, July 30th – 12.15pm, Ireland v India
Thursday, August 1st – 12.15pm, Ireland v Argentina
Friday, August 2nd – 4pm, Ireland v New Zealand
