Dutch on spying mission at Champions Trophy

Defending champions Holland will use the Samsung Champions Trophy hockey tournament scheduled for Nov 29-Dec 9 at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil to gather information on their rivals ahead of the Beijing Olympics next year.

Team manager Robert van Maasakker said yesterday that winning the tournament would not be their priority.

“It is more important for us to gather data on our opponents and also to test our players fully so that our preparations will be complete before we head to Beijing,” he said.

Holland, who have won Olympic gold twice in 1996 and 2000, qualified for the Beijing Games as winners of the European Championships earlier this year. Their coach of the 2000-winning team Roelant Altmans is back at the helm.

Van Maasakker added that the tournament in Kuala Lumpur would be tough as they had to play eight matches in a space of 11 days.

“But we are happy that we will get top quality matches. It's hot and humid here and the rule allowing teams to register 18 players for a match is good,” he said.

Van Maasakker pointed to the fact that top teams would get to play in two Champions Trophy tournaments before either the Olympics or the World Cup.

“Usually, there is one. But we now have one in KL and another in Holland in June. The Olympics will be held in August. We are not complaining ... the top teams will certainly benefit from them,” he said.

The Dutch have made four changes to the team who won the European Championship. The youngsters coming into the team are Jeroen Hertzberger (21), Quiryn Casper (20), Wouter Hermkwens (21) and Klass Vwemeullen (20).

Holland will open their campaign against Britain on Nov 29 followed by matches against Malaysia, Spain, South Korea, Germany, Australia and Pakistan. Their opponents who have yet to qualify for the Olympics are Germany, Britain and Malaysia.