Charlotte Watson; Amy Costello and Sarah Robertson selected for GB Olympic qualifier

Scotland’s Charlotte Watson; Amy Costello and Sarah Robertson have been selected for the FIH Olympic Qualifiers.

Watson is set to play her first GB international games at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in these crucial matches.

The Scots are part of an 18-strong GB women’s squad that will take on Chile in a two-legged affair on 2 and 3 November, with the winner securing their place at next summer’s Tokyo Olympics.

Watson made her Great Britain debut during a trip to Japan back in July and scored her first goal during a recent Test series against India. Watson is also part of five changes from the team that played against New Zealand at The Stoop on 23 June in GB’s last competitive home fixture, with Shona McCallin also set to play her first game since 2017.

Six members of the team that won gold at the last Olympics in Rio – captain Hollie Pearne-Webb, Giselle Ansley, Maddie Hinch, Shona McCallin, Lily Owsley and Susannah Townsend – are also included.

With less than a year until Tokyo 2020, this will be the last chance for both teams to qualify for the Olympics.

The winner will be determined by an aggregate scoreline taken from the two games at 14:00 on Saturday 2 November and 12:00 on Sunday 3 November.

The men’s team for their FIH Olympic Qualifier against Malaysia is due to be announced at 15:00 on Tuesday 29 October.

Ahead of the crucial double-header, women’s head coach Mark Hager said: “It’s an exciting and very well-balanced group.

“We’ve brought in Leah Wilkinson to give us another key defender; she’s deserved her place after playing well in the recent India Test series. Charlotte Watson has some good raw speed and the ability to put the ball in the back of the net, so she’ll be quite an exciting addition.

“We’ve been training really well, it’s been a tough decision around selection as any number of our squad could have made the team. We’ve got a lot of girls in good form at the moment, we’re only a week away from the games so we’ve got to make sure we keep them confident and let them back themselves to go out there and play.

“It’s helpful having the players from Rio 2016, they can talk about their experiences and what it means for this group. You could take going to the Olympics for granted but those players are very good at keeping our team grounded and making sure that everyone understands every time you put that shirt on it means something and that it’s an honour to play for your country.”

Squad

Giselle Ansley (Surbiton) – ENG
Amy Costello (East Grinstead) – SCO
Sarah Evans (Surbiton) – ENG
Maddie Hinch (GK) – ENG
Tess Howard (East Grinstead) – ENG
Hannah Martin (Surbiton) – ENG
Shona McCallin – ENG
Lizzie Neal (Loughborough Students) – ENG
Lily Owsley (Hampstead & Westminster) – ENG
Hollie Pearne-Webb (C) (Surbiton) – ENG
Izzy Petter (Loughborough Students) – ENG
Amy Tennant (GK) (Reading) – ENG
Anna Toman (Wimbledon) – ENG
Susannah Townsend – ENG
Sarah Robertson (Hampstead & Westminster) – SCO
Laura Unsworth (East Grinstead) – ENG
Charlotte Watson (Dundee Wanderers) – SCO
Leah Wilkinson (Holcombe) – WAL

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