No plans to reschedule interprovicial matches

Hockey: Two inches of snow on the Queen's pitch, and a weather forecast that promised more wintry conditions over the weekend, forced the cancellation of the men's and women's senior interprovincial tournament in Belfast yesterday.

As of now there are no plans to reschedule the tournament, with a packed club and international calendar giving the Irish Hockey Association (IHA) few, if any, options to squeeze it in at a later date.

Given the cancellation of the men's preliminary interprovincial matches last November, yesterday's cold snap now appears to have eliminated the chance to hold the competition in both the men's and women's events, although the Leinster men would like to see the competition played in Dublin this weekend, where the conditions are less severe.

For the Leinster team the news has been a source of deep frustration. Three players travelled from Belgium specifically to take part, while the extended squad have been training regularly for the last two months.

The view appears to be that more might have been done to keep the competition alive.

"We've been preparing since Christmas," said former international and current Leinster coach Simon Filgas.

"Perhaps the organisers should look at an alternative for this weekend, maybe Dublin. We could play Munster tomorrow (Friday) and Ulster on Sunday in Dublin or vice versa. It is a closed weekend anyway in Dublin so pitches would be available.

"The competition has already been cancelled once in November and the organisers should do whatever they can to allow it to go ahead.

"The guys want to play and we've three players over from Belgium on the squad, Graham Shaw, Stephen Butler and Joe Brennan. We won't get them back again to play on another date."

The IHA competitions committee will now meet to see if the event can be squeezed in at some other time, which excludes Leinster's idea of a quick change to Dublin.

Given that the Munster squad have been drawn exclusively from C of I and Cork Harlequins, whose commitment to European qualification and competition this year is heavy, even an alternative date this season seems unlikely.

The Munster men were reluctant entrants from the beginning and only agreed to take part when Stephen Jackson agreed to coach the side just before Christmas.

Ironically, the last time the Munster women's team - winners in Cork last year - attempted to defend their senior interprovincial title, in Ulster in 1996, the weather intervened, forcing the postponement of the last three matches (Ulster won the title in Dublin the following month).

Their efforts to retain the title have, then, been thwarted again.

The debate surrounding the Greek women's team and their ability to play at a level high enough to warrant their inclusion in the Olympic Games has ended. The team have withdrawn from their qualifier play-off series against Russia in New Zealand next month, for financial reasons.

The decision means there will be five qualifying places on offer at the Athens tournament in which the Irish team will compete next month.