Ireland coach Mark Tumilty believes Olympic qualification is up for grabs

Ireland Head Coach Mark Tumilty

Keith Bailie

Ireland head coach Mark Tumilty has his sights set on qualifying for this year’s Olympics in Paris.

Ireland Men travel to Spain next week to participate in an eight-team qualification tournament, with three places at Paris 2024 up for grabs.

The tournament which will take place between January 13 and 21 will be in Valencia. Ireland (are drawn in Pool A alongside Ukraine (Sunday January 14), Belgium (Monday 15) and Japan (Wednesday January 17).

Looking ahead to the tournament, former Banbridge coach Tumilty said: "I think if you look at the tournament, how it's setup, Belgium and Spain are most people's favourites to qualify.

“Any of the other six nations will feel if they can produce a good week's hockey, they could secure that third qualification spot for the Olympic Games.

“We played Spain in a three game series last month. We were competitive in the first two games, and they were by far the better team in the third.

“It's definitely a tournament that offers a stiff competition. No route to an Olympics was ever going to be easy, but we are delighted to be travelling to Spain as we were there last month, it is familiar enough for our group of players and it will be within reach for our supporters too."

Banbridge player Johnny McKee is optimist ahead of Ireland’s trip to Spain.

He said: “If we had been able to write the schedule of matches for ourselves in Pool A, that is the pattern we would have chosen. Ukraine improve as the tournament wears on so it's best to play them first.

“We'll be asking the players who play in Belgium with and against those Belgian internationals for any information on the opponents. We are primarily concentrating on getting out of the group. You then have to win one of your remaining two games to get to Paris. Either win the semi-final or the third place play off if you lose the semi-final.

“The priority is the first game against Ukraine. We played them in the European B Championships last summer in Dublin. We won't underestimate them in any way. Japan have had a bit of funding since they hosted the last Olympics and they have been progressing so none of these games will be easy."