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With all the publicity and media interest the Olympics engender, British men's hockey owe a debt of gratitude to Long Ditton-based Surbiton Hockey Club.

No fewer than six of Surbiton's first XI were in the Great Britain team who will join the nation's women at Beijing in August, thanks to a shock 2-0 victory over India in the final of the second Olympic qualifier, shown live on television from Chile on Sunday evening.

The six, three more than any other Slazenger England Hockey League National Premier Division side, were all in the 16 players chosen for the crunch game from the 18-man squad for the tournament.

And each made major contributions in GB's perfect round-robin record in Santiago, featuring victories over Mexico (11-0), Russia (8-0), Chile (4-1), India (3-2), Austria (4-0) to give them top spot in the league table and a place in Sunday's final.

James Tindall scored five goals, Matt Daly four and Rob Moore three, including the last-minute winner against India in the pool game.

Ben Hawes - elected Britain's captain for the tournament - Ben Marsden and Richard Alexander also played key roles.

GB's goals in the final came in the opening 10 minutes from Barry Middleton, who plays for Dutch club HGC, and a penalty corner conversion from Reading's Richard Mantell.

It meant eight-time gold medalists India failed to qualify for the first time since 1928.

In the fifth-place play-off, Chile beat Mexico 9-3, while Russia downed Austria 6-3 in the play-off for third.

The GB commitments have taken their toll on Surbiton's fortunes, with the national contingent out for their first 10 games of the season, although Brett Garrard has since withdrawn from the national team.

They suffered a fourth straight league defeat on Sunday, going down 3-0 to Havant to drop a place to seventh in the 10-team elite league.

There was some good news, with defeat for ninth-placed Hampstead & Westminster meaning they cannot overtake Surbiton, removing the threat of relegation.

Surbiton visit fourth-placed Loughborough Students this Sunday.

A ruling on whether the GB players can be selected is yet to be made.

12:31pm Tuesday 11th March 2008

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