Holcombe players to face off in Olympic hockey qualifiers

Holcombe's Nick Bandurak did not make his international debut until 2022 at the age of 29 but is now targeting a maiden Olympic Games.

Friends, colleagues, and team-mates - it has been said in the past that hockey players Nick Bandurak and Hayden Phillips are virtually joined at the hip.

Not only do they play at Holcombe Hockey Club in Kent together, they coach the Rochester club's women's team, and used to work together at a school in Surrey.

But they will face each other in the knockout stages of the Olympic qualifiers on Saturday, with Great Britain facing New Zealand in a match that could decide which one of them goes to Paris in the summer.

Great Britain player Bandurak told BBC South Today: "With all the chaos involved in a game with that kind of pressure behind it, it will be nice to see, shall we say a 'friendly face', on the other side. It will be an unbelievable day for one of us and a tough day for the other."

Phillips, who joined Bandurak on the books of Holcombe after moving to the UK in 2020, said: "Playing against one of your good mates in a game where if you win you're going to the Olympics, I'm sure there will be a lot of tension and a lot of heat in the game, but it will be good fun."

GB finished top of Pool A on Thursday, having won all of their games, while New Zealand finished second on goal difference after drawing with Germany, the current world champions, who topped Pool B.

The winner of Saturday's semi-final in Oman (16:30 GMT and available live on BBC iPlayer or BBC Sport website/app) is guaranteed one of three places available at Paris 2024 from the competition. The loser will have another match which decides who gets the third spot.

For 31-year-old Bandurak this would be a first Olympic Games after years of being overlooked by the national set-up, and something he said is "the dream for any hockey player".

Bandurak played for England at every age-group level all the way up to winning under-21 honours in 2013 but it was not until February 2022 that he won his first senior cap, for England against Spain, at the age of 29. His GB debut, and first goal, came against the Netherlands on a tour of Argentina in December 2022.

"Although it's a little bit later than I'd have liked, it's been a very exciting couple of years," said Bandurak, who won silver with the England team at the EuroHockey Championships last summer.

He added: "I'm still very thankful to get the opportunity at all and it's been nice to have been able to make the most of the opportunity when it came."

Both Bandurak and Phillips have already netted for their countries in Oman, but both say the outcome of Saturday's showdown won't affect their friendship.

Phillips said: "Nick's wife and my girlfriend have been spending a lot of time together because they need someone to hang out with when we're away. I'm sure it will be fine - we're always competitors on the pitch but there's so much more that happens off it."

Emma, Nick's wife, plays for the Holcombe women's team that the pair coach, and said seeing them both compete - even for different countries - has brought people at the club together.

"To see them play on this international stage, sometimes against each other, which is the tricky part, it's just awesome to have those talents and get to watch them as well," she said.

Hayden Phillips has made more than 100 New Zealand appearances and competed at the 2016 Olympics in Rio