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A quarter-century wait came to an emotional end for the Australian Belles on Saturday when they recorded a 4-3 victory in women’s goalball at Tokyo 2020.
Leading 4-1 with less than three minutes to go, the Belles conceded two late goals before desperately repelling the Canadians’ powerful last throw with 0.8 seconds left to play.
When it was stopped by the Australia defence, confusion reigned for a few moments as one of the Belles’ most experienced players, Jenny Blow, still wearing the game-mask that eliminates the vision of each player, mistakenly thought the final siren brought with it a 4-all draw.
Noticing the subdued reaction, Head Coach Peter Corr quickly confirmed the scoreboard that his athletes could not see, did indeed confirm a 4-3 Australian victory.
At that moment, the celebration began. The emotions were finally released.
A 2-0 triumph over South Korea in Atlanta in 1996 was their previous triumph at a Paralympic Games which was followed by a winless Sydney 2000 campaign. The Belles then endured an eight-year hiatus from Paralympic competition, failing to qualify in 2004 and 2008, before fruitless expeditions during London 2012 and Rio 2016.
Corr, who was Assistant Coach in London 2012 before taking the Head Coach role ahead of Rio 2016, was brimming with pride after the match.
“That was absolutely historic and sets a platform. We’ve been working hard to set a platform for a small women’s sport with not much of a following and I think they did themselves absolutely proud today,” Corr said.
“This is about celebrating the Belles and celebrating the fact that with teams, it takes time to succeed and build a program, and believe that you can win at this level.
“I want to teach these girls to celebrate how good they are – and they’ve had very few chances to celebrate. One of them was to qualify for here. Two was to get here and to do the job they did to prepare well and three is today. We’ll definitely celebrate this.”
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Meica Horburgh, Brodie Smith and Blow played the entire match and each played their role masterfully.
Rising left-handed star Smith, making her debut in Tokyo, fired 37 shots at the Canadians and was a constant threat, while three-time Paralympian Blow was a powerhouse defensively in the centre. But it was Horsburgh who had the biggest influence on the contest.
With Blow and Tyan Taylor, Horsburgh is featuring at her third Paralympic Games and throws the way you would expect of someone trying to end a 25-year winless streak. It was almost as if she took it personally.
After opening the scoring in the 12th minute to drive Australia to a 1-0 half-time lead, the right-handed Queenslander scored an outstanding second-half hat-trick that included a penalty throw that ultimately proved critical.
“To be honest, for me it hasn’t really sunk in,” Horsburgh said.
“Definitely it’s a great feeling. I was starting to doubt myself a little bit there, so it was definitely good to get four goals on the scoreboard.
“For us to do that is pretty damn amazing, especially for the three girls who have been here for three consecutive Paralympic campaigns.”
The Australians now have hopes of progressing to the quarter finals but must now overcome the might of the undefeated team representing the Russian Paralympic Committee.
“We’ve just snuck ourselves in with a chance,” Corr said. “We’ve got Everest to climb tomorrow against Russia, but if we win, we go to the quarters. That is going to be as tough a game as we’ve ever played.
“But breaking a glass ceiling is an interesting thing. I think if you can break through that glass ceiling, who knows what can happen.”
25 years in the making and they did it together. A historic win for the Aussie Belles on day 4 of the #Tokyo2020 #Paralympics.#ReadySetTokyo #Goalball pic.twitter.com/uk4fihsHHr
— AUS Paralympic Team (@AUSParalympics) August 28, 2021
Watch the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games live and free on Seven and 7plus from August 24 – September 5.
Australia plays the Russian Paralympic Committee tomorrow at 8pm (AEST).
By: Tim Mannion, Paralympics Australia
Posted: 28 August 2021
