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The Aussie Belles goalball side have had a tough start to their Tokyo 2020 campaign, going down 11-1 to a polished Israel at Makuhari Messe on Wednesday night.
The Belles conceded three early goals and were behind 7-1 at half time, but continued to battle hard against the 2019 European Championships silver medallists, who were led well by Lihi Ben David, who finished with seven goals.
“You never want to start with a loss. But Israel came out hard,” Belles captain and three-time Paralympian Meica Horsburgh said.
“Credit to the team, we stayed in there as long as we could and I think we got better as the game went on. But they were the better team.”
The Belles have plenty of opportunity to rebound. They have tomorrow off before playing three games in three days, against China, Canada and the Russian Paralympic Committee.
“As they say, it’s a marathon, not a sprint,” Horsburgh said.
“It’s just amazing to play together. That was our first game in nearly two years, it felt good. As a team we’ve worked really hard over the past 18 months to come together on and off the court. I’m really proud of the girls.
“I’m a big believer in feeling the pain of what just happened. If you push it away, you never really build. We’ll go back, reflect on the game, feel the hurt of losing and then we’ll wake up tomorrow and start building to the next game.”
Coach Peter Corr echoed Horsburgh’s sentiment.
“One of the commitments they made to each other is that when we hurt, we’re going to hurt together and when we celebrate, we celebrate together,” Corr said.
“Right now we’re hurting a bit. But, I’m telling you, this is a tough group of girls. We’re going to show what Aussies are made of and get better.”
Watch the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games live and free on Seven and 7plus from August 24 – September 5.
By: David Sygall, Paralympics Australia
Posted: 25 August 2021
