Results from Day Nine
The Paris Olympic campaigns of Eddie Ockenden and Josh Beltz are over after the Kookaburras’ 2-0 quarter-final loss to The Netherlands.
Meeting at the same stage for the third Olympics running, the nations produced a typically tight, physical encounter in which the Dutch avenged their defeat three years ago.
Second-half goals from Duco Telgenkamp and Thijs van Dam proved the difference.
Playing his 451st international at his fifth Olympic Games, 37-year-old Ockenden was unable to add to his medal haul of two bronzes from Beijing and London and a silver which he shared with fellow Hobartian Beltz, 29, in Tokyo.
Australian hockey’s all-time appearance record-holder, Ockenden became the sport’s first five-time Olympian and the first Tasmanian-born flag-bearer in Paris. The father-of-three has been part of 16 tournament victories in the Pro League (2019), World League (2015 and ’17), World Cup (2010 and ’14), Commonwealth Games (2010, ’14, ’18 and ’22) and Champions Trophy (2008, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’16 and ’18).
Alanna Smith helped the Opals through to the basketball quarter-finals.
Needing to win by six points in their last Pool B match to finish in second place and avoid the US in the next round, Australia beat host nation France 79-72.
With the scores level at half-time, a big third quarter left the Opals nine points ahead at three-quarter time.
Roared on by a partisan crowd at Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille, the French cut the margin to as little as one point in a thrilling final term, much of which Smith sat out having accumulated four fouls.
The 27-year-old WNBA star finished with 12 points and four rebounds.
Smith had top scored when the Opals began their Paris campaign with a shock loss to Nigeria before beating Canada in their second match. Born in Hobart, Smith grew up in Melbourne and has played for Phoenix Mercury, Chicago Sky and Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA.
The quarter-finals are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.
Teenager Maddison Brooks is living the Olympic dream after a meteoric rise in Paris.
The 19-year-old did not even expect to make the plane to France but has since been sent as a reserve, called up to the squad, scored, rubbed shoulders with royalty and is now a pivotal player in the hunt for medals.
Reflecting on the incredible journey, the midfielder with Hobart’s OHA club admitted the last month had produced plenty of surprises.
“I didn’t think I was going to be selected so when I found out I was a travelling reserve I was super excited,” she said. “At that stage I wasn’t feeling too nervous as I had low expectations about playing.”
Brooks, who had played 32 internationals since making her debut last year, was called into the squad when Alice Arnott withdrew with calf soreness. She featured in the Hockeyroos’ 2-1 win over South Africa, scored her seventh international goal in a 3-0 win over the USA and was in the side which drew 3-3 with world no.2 Argentina and then beat Spain 3-1.
“Getting called up for the first game was quite surreal,” she said. “The competition has been really tough but as a team we are playing really well.
“The crowds have been very vocal which has its challenges when you are on the field as it’s hard to hear your teammates or be heard by them, but it adds a whole level of extra pressure and excitement.”
Australia have won the Olympic title three times (1988, ’96 and 2000) - a record bettered only by The Netherlands - but have not made the semi-finals since the last of those triumphs in Sydney.
With four wins and a draw from their five matches, the Hockeyroos finished on top of Pool B. They face a quarter-final at 6pm on Monday against China who finished fourth in Pool A with two wins and three losses.
“While we have played well in the rounds, this means nothing unless we can get through the quarter-finals,” Brooks added.
A product of Hockey Australia’s junior pathway program, Brooks relocated to the Hockeyroos’ centralised program in Perth earlier this year and competed in the Pro League in the lead-up to the Olympics.
She said she is still getting used to daily life in the French capital.
“Paris - what a city! The number of people is unbelievable. It’s a beautiful city and the running of the Olympics has been so organised.
“Being around the village has been an unreal experience - meeting and having photos with Rafael Nadal, Queen Mary and some of Australia’s best has been so cool.”
