New Indian Express: Batch of champions revives Oz wizards
Swaroop Swaminathan
CHENNAI : The poor performance of Australian hockey teams at the Rio Olympics brought with it some rancour about how the country funds its Olympic sports. Hockey, which was in the eye of a storm, receives a funding of close to $6mn from Winning Edge, a government programme that hands money to some of the most successful sporting programmes run by various federations.The Rio disaster meant there were calls to cut back funding for hockey, a step that Hockey Australia (HA) naturally did not agree with. Their point was funding could not be stopped because of one bad tournament.
That was a valid argument. They were back-to-back World Cup champions, reigning Champions Trophy champions and World League Final winners in 2015. Hockey received that much money from the Australian government because of those successes and they said the team had earned goodwill because of its trophy-laden past. HA won the debate and the funding stood, but there were still apprehensions about life after Jamie Dwyer, who retired after the Games. They needn’t have worried. In the Kookaburras’ biggest event since then, they were winners again, at the World League Final in Bhubaneswar.
Though coach Colin Batch, who replaced Graham Reid at the end of last year, did not necessarily agree with that, he did say the win was much needed. “It’s a massive mental boost ahead of next year where we have some really big tournaments (Commonwealth Games and World Cup) lined up,” the coach said.
While the letdown at Rio was blown out of proportion by the hockey community in part thanks to their history — it was their first medal-less Olympics since 1988 — HA listened to those voices. Lots of players were shown the door, youngsters were accelerated into the system and the next Olympic cycle began.
At Bhubaneswar, there were 11 players who did not feature in Rio. Batch, who was instrumental in ringing in those changes, attributed the win to those decisions. “We made a lot of changes. I am happy that it is working. More than anything, this win is important because it puts some belief into the team. This is a step in the right direction.”
The obvious next question — what makes them such a fiercely competitive outfit whose young players do not suffer from stage fright — is answered by skipper Mark Knowles. “It’s simple. We have another set of young players chomping at the bit to enter the team. We also have fairly established players waiting for a second chance.”With the nation looking down at the other teams again — literally because they are now the new World No 1 — what does Batch, Knowles & Co seek in 2018?
It’s a two-word answer beginning with W & ending with P.