Burras Set to Miss Final After India Defeat
The Burras’ hopes of qualifying for the Sultan of Johor Cup final are all but over after suffering a 5-4 defeat to runaway leaders India on Wednesday night at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium.
India raced to a 4-0 lead in the opening quarter as the Australians were overwhelmed by the Indian’s attack.
Gurusahibit Singh scored in the sixth-minute form a field attempt. This was followed by another field goal with Haspreet Singh deflecting the ball from close range.
In the 14th minute, Mandeep Mor managed to make good use of their first penalty corner as he flicked low to the right to give goal number three for India.
A minute later Vishanukant Singh was on target for a 4-0 first quarter lead.
The second quarter saw a more settled Australian side as they managed to pull a goal back in the 18th minute through a Damon Steffens penalty corner.
Steffens was again on target at the start of the third quarter with the third penalty corner in the 35th minute. It seemed like the Australians might make a comeback until in the 43rd minute, Shilanand Lakra added the fifth goal to ease the pressure on the Indian team.
The last quarter saw the defending champions push hard and in the 58th minute from their 12th penalty corner attempt, the Australians gained a penalty stroke. Steffens made no mistake to complete his hattrick.
A minute later and with just 35 seconds left on the clock, the Australians scored their fourth goal off a penalty corner, once again from Steffens, but time ran out for them and India go on to the final.
Australian coach Chris O’Reilly was disappointed with his team’s performance and said that chasing a four-goal lead was a tough proposition.
“It was a poor first quarter for us as they had the control of play,” he said.
“By the time we started scoring, the game was getting out of our reach. I am proud at the way the players fought back. This is surely a good learning curve for the players.”
The Burras play New Zealand in their final round robin game on Friday at 11:35pm (AEDT), needing to win and hope both Great Britain, who play India, and Japan, who play bottom-ranked Malaysia, lose.
The Burras squad features five WA athletes with Matt Fisher, Liam Flynn, Coby Green, Brayden King and Alec Rasmussen all representing Australia.
Youth Olympic Games – Hockey 5s
Australia’s Hockey 5s quarter-finals draw has been confirmed after the final round robin matches were completed at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires on Friday morning.
The Australian men’s team finished top of their pool after a 2-0 win over Austria on Friday morning and will play Zambia (midnight AEDT).
Australia’s women’s team claim a 1-1 draw with Mexico on Friday morning, meaning they finish second in their pool and will play South Africa in the quarters (5am AEDT).
Mexico had taken a 13th minute lead from Nicole Verdugo, but the Aussies levelled in the last minute through Courtney Schonell to seal second spot.
In the men’s, Alistair Murray scored another goal to give the Aussies a ninth-minute lead before captain Bradley Marais sealed the win in the second half against Austria.
The women’s squad features two Western Australians with, Caitlin Cooper joined by Jolie Sertorio. The men’s squad contains three WA members, with Murray joined by James Collins and Christian Starkie.
– Hockey Australia