Hockey master class

LOCAL Maccabi hockey stalwart Michael Balint was part of the victorious over-75 Australian team at the recent International Hockey Association (IHA) Tournament for Masters, which was held in conjunction with the Hockey World Cup at the Hague in the Netherlands.

This was IHA’s inaugural over-75 World Cup, and from four participating teams – Australia, England, Netherlands and the Alliance, made up of players from nations unable to field full teams – Balint and the veteran Aussies took home the silverware.

Speaking to The AJN upon his return, Balint said that in a busy schedule of six matches in five days, Australia enjoyed a smooth ride to glory.

Australia’s Michael Balint post-grand final victory poses with the cup

“We had a tough challenge,” he said.

“But we managed to get a few goals and keep the others from scoring, and that’s all it takes sometimes.”

Beating the Netherlands 3-0 and grinding down England for a 2-0 victory in the final were two of the highlights of Australia’s campaign.

“Even though this is the first over-75s international tournament ever played, there was very good quality overall. Most players had played a very high level of hockey,” the steely defender said.

“We were very lucky with injuries, which was a big factor.

“When the big final came, we had a full list to choose from and that might’ve got us over the line.”

Australia’s single Jewish representative, Balint is a legend of Maccabi Victoria hockey. He was the founding member of AJAX Maccabi hockey in 1962, and its first captain and coach.

“We came home on the same plane as the [World Cup winning] Aussie team and got to meet with them, and they were quite amazed

that people over 75 could still play good hockey,” Balint said laughing.

His secret? “It’s still all about training, running and doing your exercises every day.”

ADAM BLAU

Sport

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