Two dual Olympic gold medallists will go head to head tomorrow night when the Australian Women’s Hockey Team take on China, in a do-or-die quarter-final.
Australian hockey greats Katrina Powell and Alyson Annan, who were once teammates, will go head-to-head in a coaching duel between Australia and China.
The Hockeyroos drew China in the quarterfinal after topping Pool B following a thrilling final pool match against Spain, winning 3-1 to top the standings over Argentina on goal differential.
China scraped into the quarterfinals after recording three losses from five games but that won’t count for anything when the two sides meet.
They’ve been a challenging opponent for Australia this year. China won the Perth International Festival of Hockey Series in April, which included a win and a draw between the two sides. And they finished a place higher in the FIH Pro League.
But the Hockeyroos will take plenty of confidence into the match, having recorded four comprehensive wins and a draw against Tokyo Olympic silver medallists Argentina in Paris.
“Our mindset is something we definitely have worked on and going into the quarterfinal here, we mustn’t take our foot off the pedal,” Mariah Williams said.
“We know we've finished on top, and we know that we're playing a team that hasn't won as many games, but they are just as good as us.
“So we need to make sure we stick to our simple skills and our Australian way of play and play with a lot of energy and intent because we know that works. If we do that I feel like no one can touch us.”
Australia are motivated to continue Katrina's and Annan’s incredible legacy and claim their first Olympic medal in 24 years.
Inevitably, if they win, they’re on an eventual collision course with world number one and unstoppable defending champions the Netherlands, a battle against the gold medal favourites Mariah hopes they will face.
“I can't wait to come up against them. I want them to feel like that. I want them to have that type of energy, because there's nothing better than the underdogs coming through and taking that win off them,” she said.
“Most certainly they can feel like that and it's something that we will come through and take straight off them.”
The Hockeyroos will play China in the quarter-finals on Monday at 6pm AEST.
Kristina Eddy
