Kookaburras thrashed 6-2 by Belgium as Australia’s Paris Olympics campaign rocked

Australia’s men’s hockey team was smacked around the chops by Belgium despite believing they had bridged the gap after recent tournaments. How do they bounce back to keep their Olympic hopes alive?

Tom Boon celebrates a goal for Belgium against the Kookaburras. Picture: Getty Images

Impotent in offence and incompetent on defence.

That was the disastrous combination that saw the Kookaburras handed the mother of all Olympic hidings by their Tokyo 2021 conquerors Belgium to complicate their path to a Paris gold medal.

Colin Batch’s Kookaburras were embarrassed in a 6-2 defeat by Belgium on day four of Olympic competition to fall behind their unbeaten opponent and India in the race to top their Paris pool.

Australia had won the recent Pro League series and hoped to show they had improved three years after only a sudden-death penalty shootout could separate the two teams as Australia won silver in the Tokyo Olympics.

With two unbeaten contests leading into the pool game against Belgium played in blistering 34-degree Paris heat, Batch was confident his side was building nicely into the tournament.

Instead they were exposed in general play, unable to pierce the Belgian defence despite eight penalty corners and powerless to stop the awesome might of the Belgium penalty corner battery.

Belgium stepped up with lethal effect as Alexander Hendrickx and Belgium hockey legend Tom Boon found their range in the first half with their own penalty corner strikes.

The Kookaburras were embarrassed in a 6-2 defeat by Belgium. Picture: Getty Images

Instead of Australia fighting back they allowed Belgium hockey legend Boon, who boasts more than 160 international goals, to dance around them with an Olympic hat-trick that was pure mastery.

The 34-year-old produced a moment of magic to extend the lead before the half time break with Australia powerless to stop him. Boon controlled a loose ball in the shooting circle, tapped it up into mid-air with exquisite control and then his backhanded strike beat defender Matthew Dawson and Australian keeper Andrew Charter.

To salt the wound as Australia attempted to peg back that lead he finished with another masterful reminder of his gifts.

He completed his hat-trick with a roofed flick past Kookaburras goalkeeper Charter that only reinforced his potency against a bumbling Australian side.

Tom Boon was all class as Belgium thrashed the Kookaburras. Picture: AFP

Australia managed to find the net through Lithgow’s Lachie Sharp and Blake Govers, with his goal line tap in finishing Tom Wickham’s clever work along the goal line.

But they would never have felt they were in the game despite such a strong body of work in recent seasons including that Pro League win and their 2022 Commonwealth Games triumph.

Australia’s men’s hockey team had been unbeaten in their first two games and had set themselves for an early pool rounds test against Belgium.

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But with India already on seven points in their pool after three games and the Belgians on nine points after three wins, a loss to the Tokyo gold medallists means they have six points from three games.

The fiercely competitive nature of world hockey means there is no easy cross-over game but Australia might have hoped to top their pool to dodge a dangerous rival.

Now they will have to bounce back hard against New Zealand and India and hope their rivals falter.