Age just a number for Canadian duo

New Delhi, March 12: They had the oldest pair of legs in the 12th edition of the FIH World Cup, yet they also had the spirit to match that of any tyro.

Supremely fit, energetic and motivated, Canada’s Rob Short and Ken Pereira are not going back home with the World Cup — their team escaped the wooden spoon by beating Pakistan and finishing 11th — but they warmed many a heart with their physical and mental strength.

Best friends and the beacons of hockey in Canada, Short at 37 and Pereira at 36 are the oldest players in the competition. Bidding adieu to the World Cup was a tough proposition for the duo.
“We would like to play in four more World Cups, ”joked Pereira who along with Short competed in the 1998 World Cup, the last time Canada had qualified for the quadrennial event.

The duo who play in the Dutch league laid the stepping stone for Canadian hockey players who wanted to look beyond playing for the country. Short in fact, was the first non-local to skipper a Dutch league side.
Looking back at their international careers which they both started in 1996, they feel the long and thorny journey has been a voyage worth the effort.

“Together we have heard our National anthem being played over 300 times at international matches and yet even today we get goose bumps when we hear it. It’s been a great journey for us. when we started off we found the going tough and even wanted to quit, but we hung in there and now we feel it was worth it,” said Pereira who took over the reins of captaincy from Short.
Despite the shift in leadership there was no heartburn between the two.

“Captaincy is just a title. We both have played under each other’s captaincy and learnt a lot. We are best friends off the field so being there for each other always mattered for us.” said Short.
Although their World Cup dreams are done with, the twosome are not ready to hang up their boots yet.

“We are not done yet. After a short break, we go back to the Netherlands to play in the league and then head back home to prepare for the Commonwealth Games. You haven’t seen the last of us yet, we are sure to come back here to give are best yet again,” said the Indian-born Pereira.

The sun may have set on their World Cup dreams, but they will continue to shine bright on the horizon of world hockey.

Manuja Veerappa