Ian Sloan out of Ireland's Champions Challenge campaign

Cookstown star Ian Sloan is the notable absentee from Ireland's squad for the Champions Challenge I event in Argentina which starts on 24 November.

Sloan is unavailable because of a broken foot so is not part of new coach Andrew Meredith's first squad.

Ulstermen in the squad include Timmy Cockram, Eugene Magee, John Jackson, Geoff McCabe and Bruce McCandless.

The Irish team's participation in Argentina had been in major doubt until a late fundraising campaign.

New coach Meredith said the Argentina tournament would provide "a great test for the team".

"I would expect that a number of the teams will view this as an excellent opportunity to qualify for the 2013 Champions trophy, and to gain very valuable world ranking points, and given the history of recent results, Ireland would be viewed as being among those teams," said Meredith.

"The tournament presents a very good platform for me to have a good look at where we are in terms of experience and positional coverage."

The Irish men face hosts Argentina on 24 November, Japan a day later and South Africa on 27 November before the quarter-finals on 29 November.

The semi-finals and cross-pool playoffs take place on 1 December with the medal and classification matches are on 2 December.