The Chinese women's hockey team came close to losing their place in May's World Cup finals in Utrecht when the International Hockey Federation met this weekend in London. Robert Watson of the IHF deemed the actions of some of the Chinese players and officials after their World Cup qualifier against Scotland in Harare last August to be the "worst incidents of aggression towards an umpire that the panel had ever dealt with". Three players were suspended - two of them for two years - as was their manager, allowing China to keep their place in the finals.

Irish Under-18 Squad (for Home Countries Tournament, Cardiff, March 27th29th): O Canavan (Connacht), J Osbourne, K Little (Leinster), E Bromell, A Carey, H Chapple, E Curtin, O Curtin (Munster), F Ferguson, C Morrow, J McDonough, P Orr, L Russell, H Cathcart (Ulster). Two goalkeepers will be chosen from D Millar (Ulster), G Casey (Munster), E Wood (Leinster) and Y Deacon (South East) after the squad's next training session.