Kookaburras looking to create new history in the FIH Champions Trophy
The Australian men’s hockey team (Kookaburras), the number-one squad according to the world rankings, is looking to create a new history in hockey by lifting the fourth straight gold medal in the upcoming FIH Champions Trophy, scheduled to be held from December
3 to 11, in Auckland, New Zealand.
It is worth highlighting here that the Champions Trophy is the last major tournament on the FIH Calendar 2011.
As many as eight world’s best squads, namely Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Korea, Great Britain, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands, will contest the mega tournament.
Ric Charlesworth, the Kookaburras Coach, is sure that his team will clinch the fourth consecutive victory in the tournament.
He stated that their major aim is to improve the weak areas ahead of the 2012 London Olympics. He observed, “Every step from now on is a step towards our final destination of the Olympics”.
Australia is considered the most favourite team for the title in the upcoming Champions Trophy but Germany and the Netherlands are also strong contestants.
Australia has a tremendous record in the tournament, winning 11 gold medals and 10 silver medals.
Australia’s past record reveals that it has two World Cup titles to its credit, four times Commonwealth Games winner, seven times victorious in the Oceania Cup, and has a solo gold medal in the Olympic Games.
The most interesting fact is that Australia won all the major titles in 2010, the World Cup, the Champions Trophy and the Commonwealth Games.
New Zealand men’s hockey team, which is also famous as the Black Sticks, is also confident about winning the home tournament. In an outstanding move, it outplayed Australia after a drought of 12 years in the 2011 Oceania Cup.
It has mixed results in the warm-up games, winning a game over Great Britain while losing one to Spain in the second practice match.
Shane McLeod, the Black Sticks trainer, is hoping that the home-ground advantage will work in their favour.
He observed, “Having the support of a local crowd and the benefit of playing on our home pitch will really help -- it's something we've never had before at this level”.
In the first day’s games, Australia will take on Spain while New Zealand will play against Germany. The first day games will unveil the preparations of the duo, Australia and New Zealand, for the Champions Trophy.
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