Ireland to face India, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and Belgium at Paris Olympics

Ireland's senior men's hockey side will face India, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and Belgium in their pool at this summer's Olympic Games in Paris.

Mark Tumilty's side defeated Korea 4-3 on Sunday last in their winner-takes-all third-place play-off in Valencia to secure a trip to the French capital.

The other pool comprises Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Spain, France and South Africa, with the top four in each progressing to the quarter-finals.

Looking ahead to the summer, coach Tumilty said: "We have a very busy period, between now and the summer, in the run up to the games.

"We have the FIH Pro League, a trip to India and the games themselves in Paris. The Pro League will be 16 games against the top eight nations in the world and that in itself will be excellent preparation for the Olympic tournament in July- August."

After Ireland booked their ticket to the Games, he told RTÉ Sport: "For someone who wasn't a full-time coach in 2019 and I often made the joke when I was coaching that I would never be given the chance to coach the national team. I came in on the back of that Olympic qualifier in 2019 and we were unsuccessful. That was probably the toughest day I've ever had.

"I was determined after that to grow something and a programme that was capable of getting us to Paris and I always said that. I think we've got to that stage.

"Has it been tough at times? Yes it has. We got our rewards."