Australian hockey legend expects Olympic medal for China women's team

As his compatriot and former mentee Alyson Annan coached the Chinese women's team, Australia's hockey legend Ric Charlesworth was seen seated in the upper level of the stands, expecting the team to win an Olympic medal at Paris 2024.

"It is difficult when you're sitting on the bench to see everything happen. You can have a different perspective from sitting up there. When I was a head coach, I always had somebody who did this role," said Charlesworth, now working as the assistant coach to the Chinese women's hockey team.

The 72-year-old Australian has racked up an extensive track record as a professional athlete and distinguished coach. Charlesworth was an avid cricketer, playing for eight years in the state team of Western Australia. Meanwhile, he also found a passion for hockey and went to four Olympics representing his country.

After hanging up his hockey stick, Charlesworth spent 14 years mentoring both the men's and women's hockey teams in Australia, also known as Kookaburras and Hockeyroos, with players achieving triumphs in almost every significant tournament: the Olympics, World Cup, and Commonwealth Games. It was Charlesworth who led Annan and her fellow Hockeyroos teammates to their two Olympic gold medals and to the top of the world rankings for the entire eight-year period.

"During the pandemic, I was speaking to Alyson. She said there was a job; would I like to help? Because of COVID-19, there wasn't much happening. So I thought 'yeah, why not?'" he recalled.

Back in 2022, Charlesworth's first impression of the Chinese players was that they were "technically good but almost training too much."

"The game lasts for an hour, and you have to be dynamic. We've worked very hard on developing that. We've made the training sessions shorter but more explosive and dynamic," said the assistant coach. "We want to play a game that is continuously aggressive. Traditionally, the team was cautious. You have to take some risks if you want to win. You have to be willing to go forward and try to score. So we're trying to build our capacity to do so," he added.

Charlesworth said that China has a lot of good players with plenty of talent. "They're hard-working. Technically, the players are very skillful. It's building the group into a team that can be really resilient. That is the major part of our task," he noted.

After a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China slipped to 14th place in the global standings. The situation began to change with Annan and Charlesworth joining forces to train the team. In October last year, China clinched a 2-0 victory over South Korea in the women's hockey final at the Hangzhou Asian Games, securing the lone Olympic qualification spot on offer for Paris 2024.

With less than 100 days to go before the start of the Paris Olympics, the Chinese team finished a seven-week training program in Perth, during which they delivered a 2-2 draw and a 3-2 win over host Australia while also beating Japan 4-0 and 4-1. They also climbed one spot to seventh place in the world rankings.

"Australia, until recently, was ranked third. We are better than our ranking, which is seventh. Whether or not we're in the top three or four depends on what happens in any particular tournament," said Charlesworth. "The team is realistically good enough to be on the podium in Paris. But there's still work to do. We have to work in our favor, but we are progressing very well," he added.

In the group stage of the Paris Olympics, China is set to take on the current world's No.1 and Tokyo Olympics gold medalist, the Netherlands, plus many other formidable opponents, such as Belgium and Germany.

According to Charlesworth, winning an Olympic medal is "hard but possible," and the Chinese players can surprise anybody. "In a practice match, we beat the Netherlands last year just before the European championships," he said, "We also played one game against them where they didn't get a penalty corner in the whole match. We have made a lot of progress. We are capable of beating them. They are the best team in the world."

With a 26-strong squad available for selection, Charlesworth was impressed by the depth of the group. "Some very good players will miss out on the Olympics. The competition for places is strong. That pushes the standard higher," he said.

The assistant coach also revealed that the following competition phase in Europe would be "tough and intensive" before the load is lightened to get the players fresh for the Olympics.

"I always want the team to do well. I am hopeful that the girls will realize their potential," Charlesworth added. 

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