Field Hockey Canada officially announced the 18-player Men’s National Team roster that will be representing Canada at the 2018 Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup. The tournament takes place in Bhubaneswar, India from November 28 to December 16, 2018.
Canada is currently ranked 11th in the world and last qualified for the World Cup in 2010. After failing to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, The Men’s National Team will be looking to improve on their 2010 finish of 11th. Canada sits as the third seed in Pool C along with India, South Africa and Belgium.
Veterans Scott Tupper, Mark Pearson and David Carter lead the Red Caribou into battle with over 500 international caps between them. Jamie Wallace, a staple of the national junior program over the past few years, made the emphatic jump to the senior level this summer and is rewarded with a spot on the World Cup roster. The 2018 FACE Grant recipient played his first senior cap in July and will be suiting up in Bhubaneswar on opening night.
The Red Caribou will play their sixth World Cup
The Men’s National Team started the year off at the 5-Nations tournament in Spain. They then went to the Gold Coast for the Commonwealth Games. They hosted China and Pakistan over the summer and are now the team is coming off a successful final tour in New Zealand where they beat the Blacksticks in a four-game test series.
The balanced competition schedule as well as adding assistant coach Gregg Clark and domestic trainer Rob Short to the staff was all part of their 2018 build towards the World Cup and 2020 Tokyo qualification (that will take place in 2019).
Canada’s road certainly isn’t easy. They have the opening match of the tournament against the world number three. Then they take on South Africa in what will be a revenge match after Commonwealth Games. Their final pool-play game is against the host-nation India and takes place on December 8, 2018 at 7PM local time. Stay tuned for feature articles, player information and preview stories leading up to the World Cup!
Canada men's team for the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018:
Balraj Panesar
Brandon Pereira
Gordon Johnston
Scott Tupper
Keegan Pereira
Matthew Sarmento
Iain Smythe
James Kirkpatrick
Oliver Scholfield
Antoni Kindler
David Carter
Mark Pearson
Sukhi Panesarbc
Gabe Ho-Garcia
John Smythe
Richard Hildreth
Brednen Bissett
Jamie Wallace
For all information regarding the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018, including the full schedule, teams, news and more, click here.
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