Black Sticks just ‘not good enough’
BLACK Sticks coach Mark Hager is not a man to pull any punches.
Not even with many of his players in tears, and his own eyes red-rimmed.
For the second successive Olympics, the New Zealand women’s hockey team had finished fourth but Hager wasn’t about to make excuses.
The New Zealand women missed out on a maiden Olympic medal, beaten 2-1 by Germany in the playoff for the bronze medal yesterday.
They had 16 shots on goal to Germany’s five, and forced six penalty corners to one, but couldn’t finish off the chances.
Germany scored twice within four minutes in the third quarter, but the Kiwis hit back through Olivia Merry in a scramble following a penalty corner.
Four years ago in London, they’d lost 3-1 to Britain at the same stage.
Hager’s disappointment didn’t stop him giving a candid assessment of where things went wrong, particularly after New Zealand’s 4-2 dismantling of Australia in the quarterfinals.
‘‘We do it well when things are going well, but when it’s tough and hard, that’s probably a weakness of ours,’’ he told NZ Newswire. ‘‘We don’t put the ball in the back of the net in the finals, in the big games – that’s the disappointing thing.’’
At Deodoro Olympic Park, the Kiwis amassed 16 shots on goal to Germany’s five, and forced six penalty corners to one. It counted for little. The problem, Hager says, lies in finishing off chances.
‘‘We had some really good opportunities, and enough corners but we were just not clinical enough up front again,’’ he said. ‘‘Under pressure, I think some of our players just panic on the ball when they should be a little bit calmer.
‘‘You could say the Germans defended well, but I think it’s a bit of both – they defended well, and we were not good enough in front of goal.’’
The problem wasn’t inexperience, he added – youngster Kelsey Smith aside, New Zealand has a ton of international know-how to call on in the attacking third.
The Kiwis had started promisingly against Germany, forcing two first-quarter penalty corners in rapid succession.
The stalwart German defence stood firm, although it took a sharp save from keeper Kristina Reynolds to keep out Anita McLaren’s second drag flick.
Scoreless at the first break, the Kiwis continued to pressure in GETTY IMAGES the second quarter and spent much of the spell camped in their front third. Gemma Flynn and Stacey Michelsen both stretched Reynolds, with Michelsen’s last strike of the half drawing a brilliant save.
Three minutes into the third spell, having successfully defended yet another penalty corner, Germany caught the Black Sticks on the counter-attack.
Charlotte Stapenhorst clinically finished the sweeping movement, then the world No 9ranked Germans doubled their lead soon through Lisa Schutze.
The Black Sticks hit back with the last play of the third quarter when Merry’s follow-up to Petrea Webster’s shot from a penalty corner finally found a way past Reynolds.
New Zealand has not won a medal in field hockey since the men’s team won gold in Montreal in 1976. The men’s team in Rio were denied a place in the semifinals by Germany, giving up a 2-0 lead with less than five minutes to play to lose 3-2. - NZN
‘‘I made my first ever hole-inone and for it to be at the Olympics, it doesn’t get much better than that,’’ she said.
‘‘I almost didn’t know how to react. I mean it is your first one, the wind is blowing, and I haven’t had the best luck with hole-inones. I had two big chances, but they just decided not to go in.
‘‘I would have loved to have done a dance or jumped up and down but in that situation I was almost about to cry.
‘‘I watched for it, just to see where it would end up, not if it was going to go in the hole or not. I couldn’t believe it when the ball disappeared, especially not having the experience of knowing what a hole-in-one felt like.’’
She had chances on the back nine to go lower, but putts on the 12th and 13th failed to drop and then on the last a 36-foot effort squeezed just past the lip.
Overnight leader, South Korea’s Inbee Park, maintains her lead. She carded a one-under 70 to get to 11-under, with Ko and American Gerina Piller tied for second at nine-under. China’s Shanshan Feng is fourth, at eightunder.
- NZN and Stuff