BY MICHAEL O’LEARY
Jeremy Duncan is part of the Ireland International Hockey Squad that will be travelling to Paris in July for The Olympic Games, after the Irish team booked their path to the French Capital following there final Olympic Qualifier in January that was held in Valencia, Spain.
The Kilkenny native made his debut for Ireland 10 years ago in 2014 against England, and a month ago on 14th January he won his 100th International Senior cap in some style.
Jeremy was among the goalscorers as the Irish got their Olympic qualifying campaign off to a winning start by demolishing Ukraine 5-1.
Ireland lost 4-2 to Belgium, but bounced back to winning ways in their final Group game as they won 1-0 against Japan to qualify for the Semi-Final of The Qualifying competition and keep their Olympic hopes alive.
They lost 2-0 to Spain in the Semi-Final, but the Irish had a chance for redemption as they played South Korea in the 3rd/4th place play-off.
In a thrilling nailbiting contest, the Irish prevailed 4-3 in a 7 goal thriller and their Olympic ticket to Paris was booked.
Unfortunately, The Irish Ladies lost out on qualifying having lost 2-1 to Great Britain in The 3rd/4th place play-off after losing on penalties to Spain in The Semi-Final.
Prior to The Olympic qualifying tournament in January, Ireland had to negotiate a separate qualifying tournament last year that was held in Dublin.
That qualifying tournament was a European Championship for second Tier Teams, as Jeremy played a leading role in helping the Irish win The Championship in style.
Ireland scored 31 goals in total throughout their 5 games with the Kilkenny man on target in three of the matches.
In the opening group game of the competition, he was a goalscorer in the 9-0 trouncing against Czech Republic and following a 7-0 hammering of Ukraine, Jeremy was on the mark again in the 6-2 win against Portugal while a 4-1 win followed against Scotland in the Semi-Final where he scored his third goal of the tournament.
That Semi-Final win against Scotland secured their path to the Final Olympic qualifying tournament in Valencia in Spain having qualified for The Final of The European Championships in Dublin last Summer, and Ireland won the final outright as they defeated Ukraine 5-2.
Qualifying for The Summer Olympics in Paris is all the worthwhile for Jeremy and his International colleagues, after losing a sudden death shoot-out to Canada in an attempt to qualify for The Tokyo Olympics.
The Kilkenny native plays his Club Hockey in the IHL (Irish Hockey League) with Monkstown in Dublin where he is working as a Physiotherapist.
For a few years, Jeremy was playing his Club Hockey in Belgium with both Antwerp and Brussels before returning to Ireland, and Belgium will be one of Ireland’s opponents in Group B of The Olympic Tournament in the summer.
Belgium will be the only European opposition that Ireland will play in The Group stages as India, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina have also been drawn in the same Group.
It’s a magnitude of the tough task that awaits the Irish in Paris, but Jeremy and his teammates have acheived the dream of qualifying for The Olympics and they will relish the challenge of playing The Worlds best Teams in the biggest sporting event in The world.
