Marsh Gibbon hockey player bids for Olympic glory with Team GB in Japan

Marsh Gibbon's Rupert Shipperley steps out onto the world's stage on Saturday morning, bidding for Olympic glory with Great Britain s men's hockey team.

The 28-year-old forward, who has played more than 70 times for Wales, will be hoping Team GB can add to the strong history of British success in Olympic hockey.

They open their Pool B matches against South Africa at 10.30am (1830 in Japan, eight hours ahead) at the Oi Stadium. They play Canada on Monday 26th (1145 in Japan) , Germany on Tuesday 27th (1215 in Japan) and Netherlands on Thursday 29th (1215 in Japan) completing their pool games against Belgium on Friday 30th (2115 in Japan).

The quarter-finals are on Sunday, August 1, semis on Tuesday 3rd and final on Thursday 5th.

Shipperley studied at Cardiff University and was a geography teacher at King's College School in Wimbledon.

He made his Great Britain debut in February last year, scoring in the country's 4-4 draw with Australia at the start of the 2020 FIH Hockey Pro League.

A cricketer with Marsh Gibbon CC too, he plays his club hockey for Hampstead & Westminster HC.

Described as a strong, attacking player with a keen eye for goal, he was also a keen rugby player before injury turned his attentions to hockey.

His sister Zoe also played hockey for both England and Great Britain.