Tasmanian hockey players Eddie Ockenden and Jeremy Edwards declared themselves happy after the Kookaburras progressed to the semi-finals with a 2-1 victory over New Zealand.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The win follows 4-0 thrashings of South Africa and Canada and a 6-1 defeat of Scotland, and maintains the Kookaburras’ proud record of only ever having lost one Commonwealth Games match.
“It was in 1998 against South Africa and we’re not intending on changing that trend, but we understand it's going to be a pretty tough semi-final regardless of who we play,” Edwards, 26, said.
“It was nice to play at a good level for four quarters.
“It would have been nice to knock in a few more goals but we ground away and are pretty happy with a solid effort and can rest tomorrow and look forward to a semi-final. I think we've had a good build-up, some really tough matches and are really looking forward to the business end.”
Ockenden, 31, added: “That was definitely our toughest test so far. The last few games have been a bit inconsistent and we definitely knew this was going to be a huge challenge”.
In other Tasmnaian Games news, Australia’s women's bowls triples, including skip Rebecca Van Asch, completed a perfect preliminary phase with a 24-9 win over Fiji.
After a week of frenetic Tasmanian competition, Van Asch will be the state’s only competitor in action on the Gold Coast on Thursday.
The Australian triples team faces a semi-final at 9am at Broadbeach Bowls Club, with the gold and bronze medal matches scheduled for later the same day at 5.30pm.
Launceston-born basketball duo Chris Goulding and Lucas Walker and their Boomers teammates now know that their opponent in Saturday morning’s men's semi-final at the Gold Coast Convention Centre will be Scotland.
Hobart’s Danielle McConnell said she was delighted with her eighth-place finish in the women's hammer throw on Tuesday.
The US-based 24-year-old produced a season’s best throw of 59.60m, having earlier recorded distances of 54.56m and 59.55m to reach the final eight. Her personal best of 63.15m was set in Lexington, USA, last year.
“It was good, I was happy with it. It was my first international competition, so to make top eight and throw a season's best, I was really happy with that,” she said.
When competition heavyweights Jillian Weir, of Canada, and England’s Sophie Hitchon were both fouled out from the field of 11 at a packed Carrara Stadium, McConnell was one of three Australians in the final eight.
“I wasn't expecting that to happen, so I'll be gloating to my friends that I beat them. That was insane. The home crowd was absolutely incredible,” she said.
