Day 23 - August 10
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| The Kookaburras supporter team prepares for the semi |
It was a bitter pill to swallow for Maitland’s Simon Orchard but one thing stood tall above the rest.
As disappointed as the 26-year-old was following the Kookaburras 4-2 semi-final loss to Germany at London 2012, the first time in his four-year international career that he would not win a major tournament he has contested, Orchard was the first man out to shake hands with the victors.
And for quite some time he was the only man wearing green and gold out in the middle at Riverbank Arena congratulating the Germans on their progression to the final as an understandably shattered Australian team slumped to the ground around the dugouts contemplating what might have been.
This eventually prompted his teammate’s into action but Orchard’s initiative had been an act of good sportsmanship and one aspiring juniors should take note of.
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| Steve, Lynn and Josh with Simon after the semi-final |
His parents watched proudly from the stands and his friends on television screens back home in the Hunter Valley.
The shock of it all still hadn’t sunk in
shortly after the encounter on Thursday but Orchard - a Champions Trophy, World
Cup and Commonwealth Games winner - attempted to describe the emotion of it
all.
“I don’t really know how to respond and
still don’t,” Orchard said.
“I haven’t dealt with failure too much in
my career for Australia, which is something I’m very lucky to have, and maybe
now it’s starting to sink in how lucky I have been.
“It’s not easy to win tournaments,
especially the Olympic Games, and the fact we have had so much success [in
recent times] leaves me a bit dumbfounded a bit lost for words.”
The Kookaburras looked in the box seat to
progress to the decider having led 2-1 early in the second half but crucial
errors and a performance slightly below the one that has come to be expected
from the men’s national hockey team saw the defending Olympic champions score
three unanswered goals.
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| Orchard takes control in the middle of Riverbank Arena |
“We were up 2-1with about half an hour to
go and felt like we had the game under control.
“Just some lapses, basic skills and
defensively, saw them score three pretty quick goals and they are too good a
team to give a two goal lead with 10 or so to go.
“So it’s very disappointing but that’s hockey
I guess.”
Now Orchard and the Kookaburras face the
difficult task of bouncing back within 48 hours and ensuring they come home
with an Olympic medal from the 3v4 play-off.
“That was a point [Kookaburras teammate] Liam
de Young made straight away in the warm down,” Orchard said.
“He mentioned how difficult it is to win an
Olympic medal full stop, and we definitely don’t want to go away with fourth.
“We have put in so much hard work, not only
the last four years but our entire careers to get too this point.
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| The thorn between roses Kate and Airlie |
“We’re still confident in our ability and I
think we are definitely good enough to win a bronze medal.
“It will just be a matter of how we react,
how we recover and really putting in a polished display.”
The Kookaburras will take on hosts Team GB,
who went down 9-2 to the Netherlands in the other semi-final, in the bronze
medal play-off at 3.30pm on Saturday (12.30am Sunday AEST).
It will be a similar story for two other
athletes from the Hunter Valley with Suzy Batkovic and Jenni Screen lining up
for the Opals at 5pm (2am Friday AEST) in their bronze medal play-off against
Russia.
The went down to the US 86-73 in their
semi-final on Thursday, which denied the national women’s basketball team a
chance of surpassing the silver medals they had earned from their last three
Olympic campaigns.
PLAY
OF THE DAY (Olympics - day 13)
Usain Bolt becomes the first man in history
to successfully defend the sprint double by running the fourth fastest 200m
time. He is now the most successful Jamaican
athlete of all time with five gold medals next to his name and still the 4x100m
relay to go. And if they weren’t already the Caribbean
island nation are surely favourites with Bolt’s fellow countrymen Yohan Blake
and Warren Weir finishing second and third respectively in the 200m final.
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| Outside the theatre of Usain Bolt |
As for today (day 14) from a Hunter perspective:
*Merewether's Richie Campbell will take on three-time defending Olympic champions Hungary in the men's water polo competition.
The 6.30pm (3.30am Saturday AEST) encounter is a semi-final for the 5-8 classifications and the Australians will look to cause an upset.
*The Australian men's 4x100m relay team, featuring 2005 Maitland Sportsperson of the Year Josh Ross, will also be up against it with a potential showdown against the US in the first round of the event at 7.45pm (4.45am Saturday AEST).
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| Live cross to the ABC under the Olympic rings at Tower Bridge |
Links:
*Read the London Eye each day in the Maitland Mercury during the 2012 Olympic Games
*Tune into 1233 ABC Newcastle each morning from 7.30am during the Games period for a live cross from the London Olympics with breakfast presenter Aaron Kearney
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