Seve van Ass, a profusely talented midfielder/forward, has served The Netherlands for a decade and was undeterred by a horrific injury in a game for HGC against Amsterdam in 2013.

Seve lost 10 teeth and suffered a fractured jaw when his opponent and Netherlands team-mate Valentine Verga swung his stick in an attempted tackle.

The then 21-year-old, however, bounced back after surgery and recovery and has been more or less a fixture in the national team for a decade.

Seve’s father Paul was coach of The Netherlands for a while and that actually put pressure on both father and son when it came to selection and team handling. His consummate skill and prowess along with Paul’s professional approach and objectivity, however, left no doubt over Seve’s worth in an Oranje shirt.

As a youth player, Seve represented Victoria before joining HGC in the Dutch Premier League. After moving to Rotterdam for five years he rejoined HGC in 2018.

Seve, who has played more than 160 internationals, has won two World Cup silver medals at The Hague 2014 and Bhubaneswar 2018 and three gold medals at the 2015, 2017 and 2021 EuroHockey Championship.

What’s missing is an Olympic medal and Tokyo 2020 provides the exciting attacking player the opportunity to straighten the record.