GWENT’S Abi Welsford, Rose Thomas and Danielle Jordan will now be focusing on the EuroHockey Championship II in Cardiff after Wales’ superb fourth place at the World League event in Malaysia.

Having finished second in their round two pool in Kuala Lumpur, Wales beat Kazakhstan in the last eight before losing 2-0 to eventual winners Ireland in the semi-finals.

Not only would a win over the Irish have given Kevin Johnson’s women a place in the final but also a shot at World Cup qualification in the next stage of the World League.

However, their run to the semis in Malaysia still represented Wales’ best ever performance in the World League – they went on to finish fourth after losing 3-1 to Italy in a play-off for third.

Johnson’s squad, which features skipper Welsford, from Usk, Abergavenny goalkeeper Thomas and Cwmbran’s Jordan, are hoping their displays in Asia will serve them well for the future.

Their long-term target is qualification for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and further world ranking points at the EuroHockey Championship II would help their cause no end.

“We will look back on this tournament proud that we have yet again been able to compete positively against higher ranked nations and, as a result, our development as a group continues to grow at a fast rate,” said head coach Johnson after the defeat to Italy in Kuala Lumpur.

“The tournament has also made us aware of areas of our game we must improve on so that we can turn our competitiveness into more positive scorelines in classification games.

“All in all we have got what we wanted from the tournament and earned valuable world ranking points on the way to a top-four finish.”

After facing Italy in their opening match, Wales once again found themselves up against the highest-ranked side in the tournament.

With Italy bossing possession, Wales did well to keep the scores level until shortly before half time, when a green card for Jordan allowed Italy’s Celina Traverso to capitalise on the extra player to score.

A penalty corner after the restart was deflected past Thomas to give Italy a 2-0 lead, but Wales responded quickly when Sian French halved the deficit.

Wales needed a big last quarter but their pressure went unrewarded and Valentina Braconi added her second and Italy’s third to secure a 3-1 win.

Wales will now start preparing for the EuroHockey Championship II in Cardiff this August.

The tournament will be their final opportunity to collect world ranking points ahead of Commonwealth Games qualification later in the year.