Lachlan Sharp and his Kookaburras teammates are on top of the world after their 2-1 victory over Argentina in the FIH Men’s Hockey World League on Monday morning in Bhubaneswar, India.
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Sharp made his Kookaburras debut in the first game in the tournament and it’s safe to say the Lithgow local well and truly announced himself on the world stage.
He finished with another Junior Player of the Match performance in the final after he claimed the award in the semi-final against Germany.
The 20-year-old was also named Junior Player of the Match when Australia took on Germany in the group stage.
The winning goal came in the 58th minute courtesy of a drag flick from Blake Govers.
Argentina still found time to pile on the pressure with three penalty corners in the dying stages but the Aussies held firm to finish 2017 on a massive high.
Kookaburras captain Mark Knowles was euphoric after the final buzzer.
“It feels awesome. We came here wanting to play well and not knowing exactly where we were at, wanting to play the best teams in the world,” he said.
“It’s a pretty good advertisement for hockey when the number one team in the world plays the number two. The Olympic champions against a team that want to chase them now. I’m so happy.”
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The victory also means the Kookaburras will shoot to the top of the world standings, overtaking Argentina, the 2016 Rio Olympic gold medallists, into the number one spot.
Australia’s Jeremy Hayward opened the scoring with the first penalty corner of the game in 17th minute.
However Argentina equalised less than a minute later through the stick of Agustin Bugallo.
Sharp had a great chance to put the men in green and gold ahead just before the main break but failed to hit the target.
The South Americans continued to look dangerous but it was the Aussies who made the breakthrough.
Govers won the penalty corner and nailed the ball to the left of the keeper to lift the Kookaburras to their second consecutive Hockey World League victory.
The win points to a positive 2018 for Lachlan Sharp and the Kookaburras ahead of the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and the 2018 World Cup in India.
Australia qualified for the final after a strong 3-0 result over Germany in the semi-final on Sunday morning.
Have a look at the highlights in the video below.
After drawing 2-2 against Germany in the group stages, the Kookaburras put in a much improved performance. However their opponents went into the match with a few injuries.
Sharp was again in the thick of the action and was named Junior Player of the Match.
All three goals came in the second half courtesy of Dylan Wotherspoon, Jeremy Hayward and Tom Wickham.