It will be little consolation given the magnitude of a junior World Cup, but some of Europe’s top talent will at least contest a women’s 4 Nations next week.
A hastily-arranged under-21 Four Nations tournament will see Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and England face off in Valencia from Dec 8-12.
All four sides were set to compete at the Junior World Cup in Potchefstroom, South Africa next week before the FIH put the event on hold due to the discovery of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Ireland coach David Passmore said: “Obviously the Junior World Cup being put on hold was a massive disappointment for the players who had worked so hard and were looking forward to representing Ireland at such a prestigious event.”
Ireland meet England next Saturday before playing in either the final or a third/fourth place playoff game.
Match schedule (local times)
Dec 8: Netherlands v England, 4pm; Spain v Ireland, 6pm
Dec 9: Netherlands v Ireland, 4pm; Spain v England, 6pm
Dec 11: England v Ireland, 11am; Spain v Netherlands, 1pm
Dec 12: Classification matches
Does anyone have the stadium name and if tickets can be purchased. I happened to fly in on the same plane from Amsterdam with the Netherlands team. My family would be interested in watching a match but details are sparce.