India Seal Series Win in Perth
India has completed a series defeat over the Kookaburras in Perth, winning the final test 3-1 as the Australians prepare to announce their 2014 Champions Trophy squad.
Having won the opening test in convincing fashion, the Kookaburras went on to lose the remaining three tests, with the 3-1 series result, ending a successful spell for the Australian outfit that saw them crowned World Cup and Commonwealth Games champions.
In the final test in Perth, Akashdeep Singh gave the tourists a 13th minute lead, after converting a penalty corner, which was cancelled out soon after through Tom Craig, who scored his first international goal for the Australians.
Singh scored his second after 50 minutes, and was joined on the scoresheet, by teammate Uthappa Sannuvanda (53min) to seal India’s third straight win and a series victory over the hosts.
Summing up the Kookaburras’ performance over the past four tests, head coach Graham Reid commented on the team’s highs and lows throughout the series.
“If you look behind the scoreboard, the internal scores and stats were great tonight, with the team back to where they needed to be.”
“One of the biggest things to take out of this series is that the Kookaburras daily training environment is very important, which is why we try to centralise train them. We have just played a team who have been together for three years, and our guys have only been together for five days.”
“The idea behind this series was to give the guys some experience and exposure, and I think we have achieved that.”
With the 2014 men’s Champions Trophy commencing in 30 days time, Reid gave insight into the type of team they are looking to build ahead of the tournament.
“It will consist mainly of this group however, there are a couple to come back from injury and overseas.”
WAIS scholarship holders Tyler Lovell and Tristan Clemons both featured for the Australians in goals, whilst Kiel Brown, Aran Zalewski and Craig Boyne featured in earlier tests for the Kookaburras.
-with Hockey Australia
