The Kookaburras have taken out the International Hockey Open on the weekend, beating Pakistan 4-0 in Darwin.
The Open saw VIS athlete Kiran Arunasalam make his Kookaburras debut alongside VIS’ Aaron Kleinschmidt and Josh Pollard in the four match series against Pakistan.
Arunasalam and Kleinschmidt both put points on the board for the Kookaburras in the final match of the series, securing the Kookaburras 5-3 victory over Pakistan and the series.
Kookaburras head coach Colin Batch said the final match really challenged his team, but he was happy with their progress overall.
“We’ve grown a lot, we’ve tried some different things and we take all of that forward to Azlan Shah, but I’m very pleased with our progress in these four matches.” Batch said.
The Hockeyroos have started their 2017 campaign with two draws in the Hawkes Bay Cup.
The Hockeyroos drew 1-1 in their first match for 2017 against the USA, which saw VIS athlete Madi Ratcliffe score her first Hockeyroos goal.
VIS athlete Kristina Bates made her debut for the Hockeyroos, joining fellow VIS athletes Laura Baden, Georgia Nanscanwen and Ashlee Wells in the four nations competition.
On Saturday, the Hockeyroos drew 1-1 again, this time against home team and arch rivals the New Zealand Black Sticks. Despite leading for much of the game, the Hockeyroos conceded an equalizing goal in the 59th minute.
The Hockeyroos will next play Japan on Monday 3rd April at 2pm in the Hawkes Bay Cup.
