By JARROD POTTER
FINISHING on a golden note, Chris Ciriello made it two major international victories in as many months.
The 30-year-old, formerly from Endeavour Hills, emulated his World Cup final hat-trick with another Monday morning (Australian time) in the men’s hockey gold medal match against India.
His efforts from the spot gave Australia a 4-0 victory to push the Australian medal tally to 49 gold, 42 silver and 46 bronze, only second behind England.
Taking place as the team’s go-to penalty flicker, Ciriello drilled the first volley past the Indian keeper in the 13th minute before adding number two – and his eighth of the tournament – just before half time to keep the Kookaburras ahead 2-0 at the main break.
Playing against team mates and rivals from his Hockey India League stint with Punjab, Ciriello iced the game with his third from the penalty spot before team mate Eddie Ockenden sealed the gold medal victory with a deflection in the dying minutes.
Talking to ABC Grandstand after the match, Ciriello said the feeling of winning the World Cup and the Glasgow Commonwealth Games tournament in the space of a few short weeks did not seem all that far apart.
“Doesn’t feel like five weeks, it feels like three or four days, but I’ll take another hat-trick any day of the week,” Ciriello said to ABC Grandstand.
“It was a massive change from the World Cup, we had eight new guys, so they actually drove a fair bit of it.”
Our other remaining athlete in the final week of the competition – Jeff Riseley – had another difficult international campaign, but the results were exceptional for the middle-distance runner. He was hip-and-shouldered in the 800m semi-final which left him outside the qualifying times, before a judge’s appeal granted him a spot in the final.
Along with earning a place in the 1500m, Riseley banked a pair of fifth place finishes in his two race finals, clocking in at 3.40.27 for the 1500m and 1.46.12 for the 800m.
*** medal tally breakout box****
PAKENHAM GAZETTE – LOCAL ATHLETE MEDAL TALLY
Chris Ciriello (formerly Endeavour Hills): GOLD – Men’s hockey.
Laetisha Scanlan (Berwick): GOLD – Women’s trap.
Josh Beaver (Tooradin): SILVER – Men’s 200m backstroke. SILVER – Men’s medley relay. BRONZE – Men’s 100m backstroke.
Matson Lawson (Casey TigerSharks, from Langwarrin): BRONZE – Men’s 200m.
Lalita Yauhleuskaya (Berwick): BRONZE – Women’s 25m Pistol Shoot.
