Roller hockey: Jimi Blinkhorne impresses at trans-Tasman Cup

Whanganui skater Jimi Blinkhorne won the MVP and supreme sportsmanship award at the Trans-Tasman Cup in Queensland last week. Photo/ Stuart Munro

His teams may not have won a game but Whanganui skater Jimi Blinkhorne has returned from Australia with two trophies in hand.

Blinkhorne played for both the New Zealand under-17 and senior men's roller hockey teams in a three-test series against their trans-Tasman rivals last week.

Both side lost their respective Trans-Tasman Cup series 3-0 but Blinkhorne was named the most valuable player of the under-17 series and followed that up with the supreme sportsmanship award across the tournaments four grades.

The MVP award - chosen by the referees - was a great way for the 17-year-old to cap of his third and final trans-Tasman series with the age group side, which he also captained.
Meanwhile, the supreme award was for conduct on and off the field.

As he makes the shift to senior hockey, Blinkhorne also got a start for each of the New Zealand men's matches.

Blinkhorne is the youngest in the senior team and part of its five year plan to build a strong squad for the future.

"It's a lot more fast-paced and strong," he said, of his first tournament with the senior team.

"We've got a real young team though, we're rebuilding."

The biennial Trans-Tasman Cup was held in Gympie in Queensland with New Zealand set to host in 2020.

Whanganui was also represented by under-17 coach and men's player Carlin Barry and skater Brodie Hurndell who didn't play because of a fractured wrist.

Blinkhorne's next trip is to Korea later this year for the Oceania and Asia qualifiers for the 2019 World Champs in Barcelona.