Sports quietest world champions

[reported: late May 2008]

Two weeks ago, the Australian womens underwater hockey team quietly took out the world championships in South Africa, beating the host nation 3-1. The event slipped by as world media was focussed on other things, but it nevertheless announced an emerging dominance of womens underwater hockey by Australia in the 21st Century. The team was 3rd in New Zealand in 2004, but won in Sheffield (UK) in 2006. Now they are looking towards the world championships in Columbia in 2010 to cement their No. 1 position.

Tasmanian contributed two expatriate players to the team. Alex Doughty learned the skills of the game in the Hobart competition, before moving to Victoria, where she quickly rose to be a key member of the Victorian state team. Leigh Gurney moved from South Africa to live in Tasmania for 4 years, and still represents the state at national level, although she is currently undertaking PhD studies in Vancouver, Canada. She hopes to return when she completes her studies.

Leigh thinks that of the two gold medals to date, the 2006 win was the sweeter. “The road to the finals was more difficult because the team suffered a number of losses in the round robin games, and there was no expectation of us to win. For this championship we had a line up which was very similar to Sheffield (8 out of the squad of 12 were the same), and so there was more of an expectation for us to win. We did not lose a game in the round robin and the road to the finals was smoother. But what made the South African win fantastic was taking on the home side in the final and coming through with the victory”.

One of the features of the current team is a concentration of strong experienced players such as Eden Brown, Leigh Gurney, and Tania McLeish. Unlike field sports, underwater hockey is less hard on joints and ligaments, so that it is not unusual to see players performing at the loftiest level well into their 30’s. One challenge for the team and their Victorian coach Tommy Solopatias will be to blend in younger players while still maintaining the obvious strength of a forbidding core of experience.

Tasmania is breeding a large group of young (U19) womens players who hope to contend for the national team in 2010. The group is advantaged by playing in the strong pennant competitions at Hobarts Tattersals Domain Aquatic Centre. This pool is also widely regarded as the best underwater hockey venue in Australia. The smooth large tiles with thin grouted joins means that puck movement is very rapid, requiring greater hand skills and quicker reflexes than in many slower pools.

Underwater Hockey Nationals 2008 – Victoria

Day 1 – January 17th 2008

Tasmania has fielded teams in the Open mens, Open womens, Masters, and U18's categories, resulting in over 50 competitors coming away to play for Tasmania at Victoria's Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre in Albert Park. Competition finishes up on 20th January. Results on Day 1 have not gone Tasmania's way. The Open Men defeated Qld 7-2, but lost to Western Australia 6-1, and Victoria 4-3. The Victorian game was a nail biter, with Victoria breaking a 3-3 deadlock with only 15 seconds to go in the game.

The Open Women lost to Victoria 6-1, NSW 6-3, and Western Australia 3-2. They drew encouragement from the final game because they lead WA 2-1 at one point early in the game. The U18 team defeated the Victorian development team 11-0, were thumped by Western Australia 19-0, but improved hugely with only a 4-0 loss to Victoria. The Tasmanian U18 development team drew with the Victorian equivalent, in a match that also went down to the last tile.

There is a full two days of competition left before the finals on Saturday morning.

Day 2 – January 18th 2008

Day 2 fortunes for Tasmania have been happier than Day 1, with some good wins recorded by most teams. The Open Mens team defeated Queensland 7-0, lost to an international squad (Barbarians) 4-2, and were also defeated by Western Australia 6-0. They face an important testing game against Victoria at 9.30 on Day 3, but appear at this stage to have done enough to lock up 3rd place going into the semi-finals, to be held at 6.30 pm on Day 3.

Tasmania's results were good enough today for some teams to be locking in finals berths; semi-finals will be played at the end of Day 3.

The Tasmanian Open Mens team have locked up 2nd or 3rd spot for a finals slot with a win over Queensland 7-0. However, they were gallantly defeated in a savage match against an international touring team, the "Barbarians", 4-2, and at the end of the day also went down to Western Australia 6-0. They meet Victoria again at 9.30 am on Day 3, in what is sure to be a close contest.

The Open Womens team defeated ACT 11-0, but lost to the NZ womens touring team 9-2, and NSW 6-2. They have high hopes of having done enough to make the 1 vs 4 playoff late in Day 3.

Masters Mens had a triumphant Day 2, downing South Australia 4-1, and NSW 6-3. However, Day 3 results will still be important for determining finals positions. The U18 teams were again pummelled by the Western Australians. The Development squad lost 18-0, and in their second meeting, the senior U18 team suffered a second heavy loss, 16-0. Coach Nick Johnston declared that the team was improving game by game, and their spirits are very high.

Day 3 – January 19th 2008

The main round robin competition ended today, seeing 3 Tasmanian teams progress into the finals. In round robin compeition, the Open Women strolled past the Victorian womens development team 11-0, sealing their 4th spot on the competition ladder. They played off against first spot Victoria at 4.30 pm today, but were defeated 4-2. This leaves them playing for the bronze medal against Western Australia at 8 am Sunday morning.

The U18 team slipped compared to previous performances, sliding to an 8-0 loss against Victoria, but consoled themselves with a 16-0 win over the U18 Tasmanian development team. The latter will play off in an exhibition match against their Victorian equivalent on Sunday morning.

Tasmania's Open Men were defeated 4-1 by Victoria in their last round robin match. The two teams played off in a semi final at 6.15 pm Saturday night. This was a gritty match with several sin-binned players and at least 3 goals disallowed. In the end Victoria carried the day 2-0 and moved through into the grand Final, leaving Tasmania the bronze medal.

The Masters men enjoyed a day of high success, with a round robin win over ACT 6-1, but an 8-0 loss to Western Australia. In their afternoon semi-final, they defeated Victoria 4-1, turning around the 6-1 loss of day 1. Simon Talbot returned from a wrist injury to post 3 goals, and Garry Davidson also scored for Tasmania. The Masters grandfinal against Western Australia commences at 12 noon Sunday.

Pennant 1 Presentation Night – Review

Preso night was the usual affair of 50 to 60 people showing up to pick up their trophy, hoping to win a Best & Fairest gong or trying to get drink as much free beer as possible. Michelle Castle had done a magnificent job of collating all the Best and Fairest votes and putting them into a powerpoint presentation that ran throughout the evening. This led to some heckling from the crowd but was a great way to pass the time. The actual presentations were a bit of an anticlimax, not to take anything away from those players that actually got a gong but rather the gongs themselves. With insufficient time between the finals and the presentation night we were unable to have the medallions inscribed so the winners had to make do with cardboard cut outs.

Andrew Winch of Skigia Snow, Surf & Skate kindly provided gift vouchers for the most valuable player in each of the finals.

Finally, Michelle (don't know where she finds the time) had put together a slide show from the cryptic pub crawl which drew a number of laughs, particularly Hippy's tattoo shot and the Flying Squids fire woman. In fact the judges were so impressed by the Flying Squids initiative that they awarded them the win.

Pennant 1, 2007 Grand Final Winners

Trans Tasman 2007 U18 Womens Tournament – July 2007

New Zealand fought off a late charge by Australia to win the five game Trans Tasman tournament.

Game 1 Review | Game 2 Review | Game 3 Review | Game 4 Review | Game 5 Review

Australia New Zealand Game 1 1 8 Game 2 1 7 Game 3 3 0 Game 4 4 4 Game 5 3 4

Day 1 – Friday 6 July 2007

Game 1: New Zealand lead the Tournament 1:0 following the first game this afternoon.

Things were looking close at half time with the score at 2:0. Australia scored the first goal in the second half. Despite nearly equal time in attack (slightly favouring NZ) Australia was unable to sustain defence on the tray.

There are another four games to be played and a HUGE plasma screen to watch it on. Please come along and help give Australia a boost.

Coverage of the game will be on WIN TV news this evening:

Saturday - 9am to 10pm, 5pm to 6pm
Sunday - 9am to 10pm, 5pm to 6pm

Entry is only $1.00 for spectators.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Colin for all his work in getting this comp up and running.

Thankyou also to those that have volunteered to officiate at the Tournament.

David Horner
President, TUHA

Day 2 – Saturday 7 July 2007

Game 2: New Zealand triumphed again in a well-fought game, winning 7-1 against the Australian team.

High fitness level and good teamwork gave New Zealand the edge in this morning's game – the second of the series of four games being played this weekend. The New Zealand attacks had consistent momentum with excellent backing up from their team mates.

Australia had some great passages of play where the team came together as one and ran rings around the defence – one of these resulting in their only score for the game. Australia is improving every match and has the opportunity to come back in the competition.

Game 3: Australia have bounced back with a confident 3-0 win against New Zealand.

After losing the first two matches, Australia did some soul searching and came back this afternoon hungry for a win. The team spent a lot more time on the bottom supporting each other and it showed.

New Zealand were strong in defence, constantly saving the puck from the mouth of the goal tray – limiting the Aussies to the 3-0 score line. The NZ forward attack, so successful in the previous two matches was tempered somewhat by Australia’s defensive backs.

Australia’s win sets up an exciting final day of competition. The battle continues tomorrow morning at 9:20 (Sunday 8 July) at the Aquatic Centre.

Day 3 – Sunday 8 July 2007

Game 4: The battle continued with a 4-4 draw this morning.

Australia’s growing confidence saw them leading the goal tally right up until the last few minutes of the game. The Aussie's worked the puck well and always seemed to have players on the bottom to back each other up. The last three minutes saw a desperate attempt to score the winning goal – frustrated by New Zealand's determined defense.

New Zealand's early game was lack lustre and they let Australia dominant the attack. Despite a 0-2 deficit in the first half, the New Zealanders never gave up and clawed back Australia’s lead by the end of the game. New Zealand's fast and fit swimmers resulted in numerous breakaways and lead to goals on more than one occasion.

It was clearly the best game to date with both teams giving 110% and sets up an exciting final game this afternoon.

Game 5: The tournament concluded with another epic contest.

New Zealand grabbed their third win of the tournament to win the 2007 Trans Tasman Womens U18 tournament three to one, with one draw.

The final game was as enthralling as the previous two, with both teams leaving nothing on the surface. The Aussie team scored the first two goals, but couldn't hold back the New Zealanders who grinded down and eventually reversed Australia’s initial lead.

The experienced Australian back line continually fed the puck forward and it was only the tenacious efforts of New Zealand's defense that restricted Australia’s score line.

New Zealand’s consistently high intensity on the puck, together with some blinding breakaways, proved the winning formula.

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