Olympics: Kookaburras warm up for Paris with Pro League triumph
The Kookaburras will fly into the Paris Olympics full of confidence after topping the table in the FIH Pro League.
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The Kookaburras will fly into the Paris Olympics full of confidence after topping the table in the FIH Pro League.
Kookaburas won all but three games in the European competition to beat World No.1 Netherlands to the prize.
Netherlands were within reach of the title but their penalty shootout loss to Germany overnight left them just short.
It is a huge boost for the Kookaburras going into Paris.
Captain Aran Zalewski, who was back in Australia, said it was exciting news to wake up to.
“We woke up this morning here in Australia and the competition is still going over in Europe so it was a little bit unusual to hear the news over social media but yeah great news that we’ve won the Pro League this year,” Zalewski said.
Zalewski said the biggest take from the competition was the side’s ability to perform under pressure - which will be key come the Olympics.
“It’s certainly something we’ve been working on, our trademark you could say, coming home late,” he said.
“We’ve got that confidence and we know we can, if we’re behind, that’s somewhere that we feel comfortable in a game now, knowing we can create enough opportunities to get back in front.“The competition is so strong and the teams are just getting better and better with more players, more depth. So for us to win the competition is very pleasing and it’s exciting heading into the Olympics and knowing there’s a lot of good teams that we’re going to have to play against.”
Kookaburras proved they are in form across the pitch - scoring 56 goals in their 16 matches - the most of any other team in the league.
Coach Colin Baatch said he was pleased with the result but his focus was on Paris.
“We’re doing well with our scoring but traditionally the Olympics has been a tight competition and teams spend a lot of time with their defensive side of the game so our ability to keep creating opportunities and finishing obviously will be key to us doing well in Paris,” Batch said.
The Kookaburras 16-man Olympic squad is due to be named on Monday.
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