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The Belgium and Australian men are playing a two game test series as the Aussies continue their European tour after last week’s Test Event in London. Australia easily handled Belgium in the first meeting with an 8-2 win. The second game between the teams will e played on Friday evening. The bad news for Australia from the Euro tour is that Rob Hammond was sent home with a wrist injury. The severity of the injury will be assessed upon his return home.
News of Hammond’s injury joins a string of injuries for the Australian national teams. Defender Graeme Begbie went down with an injury at the Test Event and is out for the Olympics, while women’s defender Jade Warrender will also miss the Games with a torn ACL.
The German and Korean women also met in a two-game series. The first match ended in a 2-2 draw, and the second meeting was dominated by Germany in a clear 5-0 victory. After the two games, Germany’s Olympic Training group had its first major cut with the group getting trimmed from 27 players to 22. In other Germany news, congratulations to men's national team player Mattias Witthaus, who earned his 351st cap last week, a new German record.
There’s good news for Olympic host Great Britain. The national team lost two players, Crista Cullen and Alex Danson, to injury at the London Test Event, but it was announced that both should recover in time for the Olympics. The duo are likely going to miss the Investec Cup, which runs from June 5-10 and features the women’s national teams of Australia, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Netherlands and South Africa.
The Azlan Shah Cup is on the horizon and the eight participating men’s national teams, Argentina, Great Britain, India, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand and Pakistan are busy making their final preparations for the annual tournament, which begins on May 24th. The most recent news from the event is that Argentina and New Zealand have named their squads.
Rounding out major hockey news this week: The final of the Junior Asia Cup in Melaka, Malaysia will be held this weekend. Pakistan and host Malaysia will meet for gold. The bronze medal game will feature India vs. Korea. Both games are on Sunday, May 13.
