Surbiton Hockey Club regulars Giselle Ansley, Georgie Twigg and Hollie Webb will look to build on the very positive start made by Team GB’s women’s hockey team in their match against India this evening.
The GB women defeated Australia, ranked third in the world, 2-1 in the early hours of Sunday morning with goals from Alex Danson and Lily Owsley.
Their opponents, India, struggled against Japan in their first game of the tournament, labouring to a 2-2 draw.
While India’s men’s hockey team are an ominous prospect for any team drawn to face them, the women’s side have been less successful in recent years, and are ranked only 14th in the world.
The British team officially has no world ranking, because hockey players represent England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland away from Olympic competition.
So excited to get the Olympics started!You can watch live on BBC1 early Sunday morning 00:30.#Rio2016 @_GBHockey pic.twitter.com/N0igdT0i5D
— Hollie Webb (@HollieWebb1) 4 August 2016
However, England, of whom the entire women’s squad is comprised, are ranked seventh in the FIH world rankings.
Defenders Ansley and Webb started the match against Australia, with midfielder Twigg joining the action in the eighth minute.
Signing off now! Final prep done and we’re ready to go! Thanks for all your support #Rio2016 #hockey pic.twitter.com/oPkHff0X7h
— Georgie Twigg (@georgietwigg) 4 August 2016
All three players will have arrived in Rio in high confidence, following a title-winning season with Surbiton.
They have 316 caps for England and Great Britain collectively, and were all members of the victorious English European Championship squad in 2015.
Just over 48hrs to go to our 1st game of the Olympics I’m signing off social media – It’s business time!!! #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/FiUwX30yVm
— Giselle Ansley (@giselleansley) 4 August 2016
Twigg said: “Gold is the colour we want and what we are definitely striving to achieve.”
Only the top two teams can qualify from the group stage to the semi finals, and a win for Team GB against India would put them in a very strong position with six points at the head of the table, especially with Australia already dispatched.
Featured image courtesy of Ady Kerry, with thanks
