12th September 2009,

Day 6 - Deaflympic Games


ATHLETICS

 

Lauren Hay – 800 metres semi final – Laurens pet event the 800m, she finished 7th in her heat with a good time of 2.23.58, and missed the final. We have never seen a fast 800m semi final for the past 5 Deaflympics that I have attended. She was happy with her time and found it tough. 

 

BASKETBALL

 

Women's Geckos Basketball Team – Quarter Final against USA

 

There was no pressure on the Australian Geckos going into their crossover match against the USA today. The USA are defending Deaflympic gold medalists and the current World Champions, so the Geckos went out to enjoy themselves, play hard, and have some fun. The more relaxed approach definitely worked well for the Australian team, they come out and played their best game of the tournament so far. The team has been improving every game they play, although they lost the match 83 to 28, there were a lot of positives for the team to take from the game.

 

The first quarter saw the Geckos come out and surprise everyone by scoring first and then matching the USA goal for goal for the entire quarter. There was some excellent blocking out and rebounding by Caitlin Johnson, Alicia Finch and Nicola Taschke, against much bigger and stronger USA opponents. In the quarter, the Geckos out rebounded the USA by 18 to 8. The strong rebounding enabled the Geckos to make the most of their second chance offensive opportunities, and at quarter time the difference was only 2 points, 11 to 13.

 

The size of the USA inside players, the speed of their guards was evident in the second quarter with their guards making 11 shots and converting with fast breaks. This enabled the USA to extend their lead to be up by 37 to 15 at half time.

 

In the third term, the Geckos again produced a fantastic 10 minutes of basketball, led by the defensive work of captain Nicola Taschke and the strength and control of Alicia Finch. The pressure defence of the Geckos forced the USA into three 24 second shot clock violations. The Geckos pushed hard all quarter, never giving up and going down by only 9 points for the term.

 

The fourth quarter saw the USA’s tough defence force turnovers by the Australians, and the Americans were again able to capitalize on their significant inside size advantage. After the match Coach Janelle Bressow was very pleased with the performance of the team and said ‘anyone who has watched the Geckos play over this last week would have been seen the team of mostly first time Deaflympians develop and improve game by game. Today was the coming of age for this young team, as the first quarter of the match showed that they can match it with the worlds best team. Assistant coach David Taschke and Manager Trudi Chesterton are very proud of how the girls kept their heads up and kept going, they never gave in which is a credit to their team and spirit and their support of each other.

 

In tomorrows match the Geckos will play against the Ukraine, with the winner going through to play off for 5th and 6th, and the loser to play off for 7th and 8th positions.

 

ORIENTEERING

 

Long Event – Caine Batten unfortunately did not finish the tough course and had to withdraw at some stage during the event. 

 

TABLE TENNIS

 

Louey and Dyball Doubles Pool Match – Lost 0-4 

 

SWIMMING

 

200m Free – Houghton – Qualified for the final and finished 6th.

50m Fly – Morgan, Mentasana – Morgan qualified for the final and finished in 8th. Mentasana did not qualify for the final.

50m Fly – Collier did not qualify for the final

100m Breaststroke – Glover qualified for the final and finished in 6th.

 

 

Today's Events - 12th September 

 

CYCLING

 

Points Race – 9am

 

ATHLETICS

 

Mills – Javelin – 6.30pm

 

TABLE TENNIS

 

Mens Singles – Louey at 7pm and Dyball at 7.30

 

BASKETBALL

 

Womens Geckos Basketball Team – Playoff for 5th to 8th against Ukraine – 3pm

 

SWIMMING

 

100m Back – Morgan

200m Fly – Collier

200m Medley – Morgan, Mentasana and Glover

50m Free – Collier and Houghton

 

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