Ireland ready for toughest test

COACH Dave Passmore is confident the Irish men’s hockey team are in peak condition for their attempt to qualify for September’s World Cup in Germany.

They begin their qualifying campaign here in China this morning against England - the first of six games in 10 days.

Since the Irish won the European Nations Championship in Rome last September to qualify for this tournament - and a shot at a World Cup place - Passmore has worked relentlessly with his players, to the point, he says, where they were on the brink of exhaustion.