IRELAND’S HOCKEY WORLD Cup preparations have been rocked by the news David Harte — the two-time world goalkeeper of the year — could miss the tournament with a leg injury.
Harte is anxiously waiting for the results of a second scan to determine if the damage is as bad as first feared, with the initial diagnosis showing he suffered a fractured fibula.
The 30-year-old sustained the injury during the warm-up for last Saturday’s four-nations defeat to Netherlands in Spain, and The42 understands Harte will discover his World Cup fate in the next 24 hours.
Should Harte be ruled out of the tournament, which is taking place in India and gets underway at the end of this month, it would be a major setback for Ireland as they prepare for their first World Cup appearance since 1990.
On a personal level, too, it would be a crushing blow for the Cork native who has played an integral role in the team’s development in recent years, while also flying the flag for Ireland globally in tournaments such as the Indian Hockey League.
Cruelly, it would be the first FIH tournament he has missed since 2006.
New head coach Alexander Cox named Monkstown goalkeeper David Fitzgerald — who was also part of the Rio 2016 squad — in his original World Cup panel alongside Harte, while Jamie Carr and Mark Ingram are the other back-up options having been in or around the senior set-up in recent years.
Ireland begin their World Cup campaign against defending champions Australia on 30 November, before further pool fixtures against China and England on 4 and 7 December.
Cox’s side will fine-tune their tournament preparations when they face Belgium — with former coach Craig Fulton now as their assistant — this Saturday, before departing for Bhubaneswar.
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