Hockey: Sixsmith back to bolster Britain

Jane Sixsmith is the only addition to the England squad which won the recent Five Nations tournament in Vancouver for the Champions Trophy, which starts in the Berlin Olympic Stadium on Sunday when England will represent Great Britain.

Sixsmith, resting from the international arena since Atlanta, comes in for 17-year-old Carol Voss who was not available because of exams.

The going in Berlin will be tough for the young, relatively inexperienced England side. They open their campaign with a game against the Netherlands, who pipped Great Britain to the bronze medal in Atlanta after a penalty shoot-out. The Dutch have just won a three-match series against the Koreans 1-0.

Britain's next two games, against the Olympic silver medallists Korea on Monday and then on Wednesday against gold medallists Australia, could well be something of a nightmare for the young defenders. Both countries have high levels of skill, fitness and speed and play all-out attacking hockey.

After Wednesday's game the pressure could ease a little with a game against Germany, who only managed sixth place in Atlanta, and the United States whom England beat 4-2 at Milton Keynes last Sunday.

GREAT BRITAIN SQUAD (Champions Trophy, Berlin, starting Sunday): M Davies, J Sixsmith, H Rose (all Sutton Coldfield), S Blanks, K Bowden, P Miller, J Mould (all Balsam Leicester), K Brown, J Smith, L Copeland (all Slough), T Cullen, L Newcombe, C Reid (all Hightown), J Empson (Canterbury), D Marston-Smith (Clifton), L Wright (Olton & West Warwicks).