Australia’s Kookaburras off to a winning start in Tokyo Olympics with 5-3 win over Japan
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Australia’s men’s hockey team have begun their pursuit of Olympic gold with a fighting 5-3 win over host nation Japan.
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The Kookaburras surged to an early 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Tim Brand and Tom Craig, and looked set for a cruisy opening win.
But the Japanese rallied in the second quarter and in the blink of an eye had seized a 3-2 half-time lead with two goals from Seren Tanaka and one from Yoshiki Kirishita.
The Australians took some time to regain the ascendency, but an equaliser from Blake Govers turned the tide.
Captain Aren Zalewski and Daniel Beale took the Kookaburras ahead, and from there they were never challenged.
More to come.
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The Kookaburras are among the favourites in Tokyo, but were run close by the host nation.(
Getty Images: Alexander Hassenstein
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