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| March 15, 2006 | Wednesday | Safar 14, 1427 |
Australians should sweep golds in field hockey
MELBOURNE, March 14: Anything less than a gold medals at the Commowealth Games hockey will disappoint hot favourites and hosts Australia. Even their rivals concede that the Australian men and women can be expected to sweep the field in the absence of European powerhouses like the Netherlands and Germany.
The Australian men’s team, have not lost a match at the Commonwealth Games since the sport became a medal sport in 1998.
They won the gold in the inaugural competition in Kuala Lumpur by defeating hosts Malaysia in the final and ousted New Zealand to take the title in Manchester four years later.
Coach Barry Dancer’s men begin the latest edition as the sport’s undisputed leaders, having won their maiden Olympic title in Athens in 2004 and also the elite six-nation Champions Trophy in India in December.
The settled Australian squad still retains eight players - Brent Livermore, Dean Butler, Liam De Young, Bevan George, Aaron Hopkins, Stephen Lambert, Michael McCann and Matthew Wells - who won the gold in Manchester.
Joining them will be star striker Jamie Dwyer, whose golden goal against the Dutch in Athens helped Australia break the jinx and secure their first Olympic gold medal.
Australia are placed in group A with New Zealand, England, Canada and Scotland with the top two advancing to the semi-finals.
The tougher Group B comprises Pakistan, India, Malaysia, South Africa and Trinidad and Tobago.
Australia gave an indication of their current form by defeating Malaysia 3-0 and 5-2 in Perth last week and coach Dancer said his side was ready for face all comers.
“I am more satisfied and I am confident we can win the gold,” said Dancer ahead of Friday’s opening match against Scotland.
India and Pakistan, once the masters of the game and Australia’s nearest rivals for Games supremacy, are under no illusion that the task in Melbourne will be easy.
“Australia are by far the strongest team in world hockey today,” said Indian coach Rajinder Singh. “They will have to play really badly at home to lose.”
Added Pakistan coach Asif Bajwa: “There will be stiff competition in Melbourne - for the silver and bronze medals.”
Both India and Pakistan will be looking to top group B that will save them a possible semi-final clash against the hosts.
Five teams - Pakistan, Malaysia, New Zealand, England and Canada - have more than just a medal at stake in Melbourne.
They will use the Games to guage the opposition ahead of the World Cup qualifiers which follows soon after in Changzhou, China in April.
Australia and India have already qualified for September’s World Cup in Germany as the continental champions along with the hosts, the Netherlands, Spain, Argentina and South Africa.
The Australian women, meanwhile, are desperate to avenge the humiliation at Manchester four years ago when they were forced to settle for a bronze behind surprise winners India and England.
The Hockeyroos slid further by a shocking fifth place finish at the Athens Olympics and are now want to make amends.
“We felt we disappointed the Australian public because hockey has such a rich tradition of doing well on the international scale,” star player Angie Skirving said.
“We’ve always had the support of the Australian public, so hopefully we can reward them for that support now.
“We do remember the feelings after Athens, and we don’t want to experience those feelings again.”.—Agencies
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