Kookaburras rout India to continue hockey dominance as golden Games come to a close

On the opening night of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, Eddie Ockenden marched into Alexander Stadium, carrying the Australian flag with the broadest of smiles. A distinguished servant of Australian hockey for 16 years, Ockenden was a popular choice for the honour. His excellence with the hockey stick and his humility away from the pitch were on display again on Monday as the Kookaburras finished the Games with a gold medal.

Ockenden, who equalled Kookaburra great Mark Knowles as a four-time gold medallist, has now featured in four memorable campaigns. An Olympic gold is the missing piece. He has a silver medal from Tokyo and bronzes from Beijing and London. Although 35, he harbours ambitions for Paris in 2024.

The Australians scored from seven of their 23 shots for goal while restricting India to just five attempts. It could be argued Indian keeper PR Sreejesh did well given the barrage. Jacob Anderson and Nathan Ephraums scored two goals each, while Blake Govers, Tom Wickham and Flynn Ogilvie were also on the scoresheet.

Australia ended the Commonwealth Games with 67 gold medals, 11 ahead of second-placed England. The Australians claimed 178 medals overall to edge the host nation by two. Aside from Glasgow in 2014, the Australians have topped the table in every Commonwealth Games since 1990.

Australian chef de mission Petria Thomas, who contributed nine of those golds during a distinguished swimming career, praised the squad for the excellence of their performances.

Thomas did concede there was an occasional blemish. Eyebrows were raised when cricketer Tahlia McGrath played the final despite testing positive for Covid-19 on the morning of the match. It was within the rules of this competition.

Australia instituted stricter rules than other nations when it came to Covid precautions, though some of the nearly 700 athletes did stretch the boundaries. Decent coffee shops had an increasing number of athletes including those wearing the green and gold as the Games went on.

Joining Ockendon as a flag bearer, the decorated diver Melissa Wu was given the honour of leading a triumphant team into Alexander Stadium to close the Games. A silver medallist in Melbourne in 2006 as a 13-year-old, Wu added another highlight to her career when partnering 14-year-old Charli Petrov to a gold medal in the 10m synchronised platform in Birmingham.