Australia might not have won any medals on Tuesday, day 11 of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, but two Aussie teams came up huge, and they will now each have a chance to play for a medal.
In men’s field hockey, Australia beat Germany 3-1 in the semifinals. The Aussies got goals from Tim Brand of Chatswood, Blake Govers of Wollongong, and Lachlan Sharp of Lithgow. In the other semifinal, Belgium beat India 5-2. Alexander Hendrickx registered a hat trick in the three-goal win over the Indian men.
For Australia to win the gold medal against Belgium (August 5, 8 p.m.), they will need to figure out a way to contain Hendrickx, who has five goals in the last two knockout games. In addition to scoring thrice against India, Hendrickx scored twice in a 3-1 Belgium win over Spain in the quarterfinals on August 1.
Just how meaningful was the Aussie win over Germany in the semifinals? Well, it guarantees them a medal and a spot in the gold medal game. At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the Aussies were spanked 4-0 by the Netherlands, and did not advance to the semifinals. Prior to 2016, Australia had medalled at every single Olympic Games since 1992.
Meanwhile in women’s beach volleyball, in a gigantic upset, Taliqua Clancy of Kingaroy, and Mariafe Artacho del Solar of Sydney defeated the Canadian team, world number one, and the reigning world champions, Melissa Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan, 21-15, 19-21, 15-12. They will next face the Latvian team of Tina Graudina and Anastasajia Kravcenkova in the semifinals. Meanwhile, Harry Garside of Mooroolbark, a ballet-dancing plumber, is off to the semifinals in the men’s lightweight boxing division with a win over Zakir Safiullin of Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals.
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