Hockeyroos forward Rosie Malone suspects she is currently public enemy number one in India, following the Hockeyroos penalty victory against India in the women’s hockey semi-finals at the Commonwealth Games.
Most important points:
- The Hockeyroos beat India 3-0 in a penalty shootout
- Rosie Malone was allowed to retake her shot after the timer didn’t start because she had originally missed
- Australia will face England in the final after their shootout win over New Zealand
Not that she cares.
Malone was the first penalty taker in the one-on-one, after the teams finished 1-1 full-time.
She was never in control of her attempt and for the first time in her international career, she missed.
But there was an unexpected disappointment when she was called back to take the shot again, as the eight-second countdown on the scoreboard had not yet started.
“I was just thanking the universe for a second chance,” Malone said.
“I knew all of India would hate me if I put it in. But I was just trying to think about my team and that final.
“I just said to myself: if I get a second chance, I won’t miss it.”
The successful takeover of Malone set the tone for the rest of the Australians as they secured an easy 3-0 shootout win.
And it also featured the difference between the revived 2022 Hockeyroos and the 2021 outfit that dealt with a host of off-field issues, losing to India in the quarter-finals of the Tokyo Olympics.
“We’ve done a tremendous amount of work over the past year, after the Olympics, to just be able to change our mindset, quickly accept what has happened and move on to the next,” Malone said.
“I think that was just a great example of how far our group has come with those things.”
The positive headspace of the Hockeyroos was clearly visible before the match.
Awaiting the end of the earlier semi-final, the Australians gathered on the warm-up pitch and had a Bluetooth speaker pumping tunes, with a few players even casting Leona Lewis’s Keep Bleeding in an impromptu karaoke session.
They remained optimistic in the first quarter as Rebecca Greiner gave them the lead, and they had many more chances to advance – but India’s defense was impressive.
In the final quarter, India hit back via Vandana Katariya, as the Australians conceded for the first time in the tournament.
But Malone, Kaitlin Nobbs and Amy Lawton got the job done in the shooting.
The Hockeyroos will meet England in the game for the gold medal, after the host country also triumphed in a shootout against New Zealand.
“This is exactly what we came here for and take on England, at their Comm Games home game, with a home crowd,” said goalkeeper Jocelyn Bartram.
“Hockey isn’t the biggest sport in the world, so being able to play in front of a moving crowd will be an excellent experience in itself.”
Malone is also excited about trying to get back on the podium, after a silver medal at the 2018 Gold Coast.
“I don’t even care if England is all against us, it’s just so cool to have an atmosphere,” she said.
“And for our team to get the gold, I think it would really represent how far we’ve come and all the hard work we’ve put in.”