Australian men’s, women’s sides show class

AUSTRALIA showed their class on day one of the Under-18 Hockey Oceania Youth Olympic qualifiers yesterday, winning all their matches in the men’s and women’s division.
The Australian men’s side came out firing to beat Vanuatu 20-0 and hosts Papua New Guinea 21-2.
The Australian women’s side also had similar success with a 30-1 hammering of the Solomon Islands and a 26-0 victory over PNG.
Australian men’s coach Ben Bishop said: “The matches against Vanuatu and PNG were challenging in their own ways, but it was good for us to come up with the big wins.
“With Vanuatu earlier on, we weren’t sure what to expect but they performed well throughout.
“They were consistent throughout their match which was a challenge for us.
“Against PNG, they had the crowd behind them and they were able to score two goals against us which kept them in the game a little bit longer than we would have liked.”
Considered as favourites to win the tournament, Bishop pointed out Australia’s programmes as the reason behind their edge in speed, agility, strength and stamina.
“Every state in Australia has its own performance programme and all these athletes that we’ve brought have come through them,” he said.
“We are supported really well by the Australian government through the Sports Commission, Hockey Australia in particular.
“So the athletes are provided the opportunity to develop in their own states with some wonderful coaches and trainings around Australia that help the athletes to get to where they are.”
Bishop said they were enjoying the hospitality in Port Moresby since their arrival on Sunday.
“Everyone has been very welcoming to us,” Bishop said.