Browne leads T&T at World Cup
By Walter Alibey (Trinidad Newsday)
Kwandwayne Browne has been named captain of the Trinidad and Tobago team for the Samsung Indoor World Hockey Championship in Vienna, Austria this month.
Browne whose ongoing row with team coach David Francois almost ruined the team’s preparation was selected in a 14-man team currently in Germany.
The team was selected by a panel which comprised the newly appointed German technical director, coach Francois, manager Jason Thomas and physiotherapist Shawn Marshall. However hockey clubs are still not convinced that the 14-man team is the strongest to represent TT at the World Cup. One official said the team is without three of the country’s strongest players.
They include Dean Neaves and Raphael Govia of Queen’s Park and Brian Garcia who has since returned to England where he is studying and playing hockey.
Neaves and Govia, who were picked to travel with the team to Germany for a number of warm-up matches, before going to the World Cup, pulled out after refusing to play under coach Francois. Garcia meanwhile had made a decision not to play under the controversial coach three years ago, immediately took a flight back to Europe after the hockey board refused to remove Francois as coach after a meeting with the clubs.
The players selected for the Indoor World Cup are goalkeepers Brian Lee Chow and Ron Alexander; Akim Toussaint, Alan Young, Solomon Eccles, Wayne Leggerton, Nicholas Wren, Dwain Quan Chan, Keil Murray, Anthony Marcano and Mickel Pierre.
Two reserves — Allan Henderson and Damian Gordon— were also selected to travel with the team to Vienna.
Trinidad and Tobago who were involved in three warm-up matches in Germany last week, have been drawn in Group “A” along with world number one Germany, fourth ranked Russia, Australia, Czech Republic and Switzerland.
They open against the Germans at the Stadthalle in Vienna on Wednesday, February 14 and will face the Russians in the second match at the same venue later that evening.
They play their third match of the tournament on February 15 when they come up against Switzerland before they focus on Australian in their fourth match later.
Trinidad and Tobago will conclude their campaign the day after (February 16) when they come up against the Czech Republic. Twelve countries will compete in the tournament including Canada who have been pooled in Group “B” with the home team Austria, Italy, Poland, South Africa and Spain.
In Group “A” are Australia, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Scotland and Ukraine.
