Ian Wright added another silver medal to his trophy case, competing in the first ever over-80s event at the Hockey Australia men’s Masters Championships.
Wright linked up with the Victorian squad for the tournament in Newcastle, taking on the best over-80s players from NSW, Western Australia and Queensland.
The four states took part in a double round-robin, before the top two sides faced off in the final.
The Echuca-Moama product marshalled the midfield in his side’s first three games, getting on the scoresheet in a 5-2 win over Queensland.
Wright also featured in a 2-1 win over NSW and a 3-0 defeat to Western Australia before he was rendered medically unavailable for the remainder of the tournament.
He watched on as the Victoria side again picked up wins against NSW and Queensland, this time falling to WA by a narrower 1-0 margin.
The two sides faced off again in the gold medal match, WA breaking the deadlock just before half-time to lead 1-0.
Victoria levelled the ledger in the third, but the West Australians would again get their noses in front in the final term.
A late penalty stroke opportunity almost saw Victoria go level once again, but the opportunity went begging and WA took the title 2-1.
“We did pretty well,” Wright said.
“Overall, the only team that beat us unfortunately was Western Australia and the final was very close, it was only a one-goal game.”
Despite only playing three games, Wright was named in the 18-player Australian side to feature in the Masters World Cup.
Much like for the nationals, this is the first time Hockey Australia has sanctioned an over-80s side to compete at worlds level.
Having played for 65 years, Wright is still going strong in the engine room of the state and national sides.
“In the Victorian team I was playing as a midfielder, and I would say that's my position in the Australian team too,” he said.
“Unfortunately, midfielders do a lot of running because you’ve got to get back and forward all the time.
“You've got to be pretty well on the ball to cater for those sorts of situations, and I have been in the past able to handle it, so that's not a problem.”
The World Masters Hockey World Cup will be held from August 6 to 16 in Breda, the Netherlands.
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