Orange-Rood Club Boost for Great Britain & England Hockey Star Nicholas Bandurak

A lot has been ‘happening’ on the club hockey front for Great Britain & England men’s hockey star Nicholas Bandurak. The 31-year-old striker had hogged the limelight last October when he exited England-based club Holcombe after a fallout with their management and subsequently, joined the East Grinstead (interestingly, his wife Emma Bandurak also joined the East Grinstead women’s team) – a move that sounded like one richly deserved for someone, who is so talented and had invested more than a decade at Holcombe and scored more than 200 goals.

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Widely known for his goal-scoring finesse and strong game awareness, Bandurak is a big name in Great Britain & England hockey – of course, he did not make the cut for the 2024 Paris Olympics and that’s because there are cut-throat competition for places and the Olympic squad is limited to only 16 members.

After the ‘unfortunate Holcombe episode’, Bandurak was snapped up by Vedanta Kalinga Lancers for the 6th Men’s Hockey India League and he is forging a deadly combination alongside Dutch star forward Thierry Brinkman. Even as the Great Britain hockey star is enjoying himself in the Hockey India League, there is more positive development – he is now set to play for top Dutch club Oranje-Rood that also features other overseas players such as Thomas Briels, Arthur De Sloover, and Sam Lane. The Eindhoven-based club have won the Dutch Hockey League (Hoofdklasse Hockey League) four times.

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The ace drag-flicking forward is a ‘late entrant’ to the national side having made his senior international debut against Spain during the 2022 Pro League at Valencia – a match where England pulled off a lop-sided 6-1 win . He has been in prolific form upfront wearing the Great Britain & England jersey. The playing career graph of Bandurak is interesting – for someone who made his junior international debut during the 2013 Junior World Cup at New Delhi, it took him almost nine years to break into the national side.

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Bandurak relishes making the most of the playing opportunities that come his way – he was in a rich vein of form at the 2022 Commonwealth Games at Birmingham, where he emerged as the top goal-scorer with 11 goals, including two hat-tricks against Ghana and Canada. The forward played his part in England’s runners-up finish at the 2023 EuroHockey Championship at Monchengladbach. The sturdy striker had also featured at the 2023 World Cup at Bhubaneshwar and Rourkela, where England had finished 5th.

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Perhaps, Bandurak reserved his best for the 2022-23 Pro League, he was instrumental in Great Britain finishing runners-up, scoring 12 goals and emerged as the third highest goal-scorer behind Harmanpreet Singh and Alexander Hendrickx. He was equally impressive at the 2021-22 Pro League scoring 10 goals, again emerging as the third highest goal-scorer behind Harmanpreet Singh and Tom Boon.

Orange-Rood with the firepower of Bandurak in their ranks, would look to deliver a big impact in the 2025 edition of the Dutch hockey league.