Australians want to repeat the 2012 feat
Bhubaneswar, 30 November 2014: The Australian team in Bhubneswar is all determined to repeat the feat of previous Champions Trophy, held two years ago in Melbourne
At Melbourne, golden goal by Kieran Govers gave Australia their fifth successive Champions Trophy title, over all 13th, as the hosts prevailed 2-1 over the Netherlands in the final.
Counting on their own history, familiarity of many team member to the venue, where they played earlier being members of Hockey India League, with a favourable weather condition, Australian captain Eddie Ockenden expects his team will repeat the feat of Melbourne, where Jamie Dwyer led team won the Gold in 2012, their 13th in the annals of Champions Trophy
Captain Eddie Ockenden said: “Today’s practice session was light and we were getting a feel of the atmosphere in Bhubaneswar.
The weather is a bit hot here, but not too hot for us and we are adapting ourselves to this weather.
Some of our players have played at this ground during the Hero Hockey Indian League, which will help us to understand the ground better.
For the last three years, we have been improving our game and we have made some steady progress in a few areas. The 2012 Champions Trophy in Australia was a great tournament for us and we want to repeat the same success here in Bhubaneswar.”
Coach Graham Reid said, “’The practice session today was on the lighter side as we landed here a few hours back and we did not want to exert the players much on the first day itself.
It was a good training session though and we are gearing-up to take on some good challenges in the championship”