Des Abbott

Desmond Abbott (born 10 January 1986 in Darwin, Northern Territory) is an Australian field hockey midfield/striker. He is a member of the Australia men's national field hockey team, having made his debut on 28 January 2007. He won gold medals at the Hockey Champions Trophy in 2008, 2009 and 2010, and a gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. He won a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics and unsuccessfully tried to secure a spot on the team to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Des Abbott
Personal information
Birth nameDesmond Abbott
NationalityAustralian
Born (1986-01-10) 10 January 1986
Darwin, Northern Territory
Sport
CountryAustralia
SportField hockey
Event(s)Men's team
ClubAquinas Reds
TeamNT Stingers
Retired2013
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals2008
Medal record
Men's field hockey
Representing  Australia
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place2008 BeijingTeam
Champions Trophy
Gold medal – first place2008 RotterdamTeam
Gold medal – first place2009Team
Gold medal – first place2010 MönchengladbachTeam
Hockey at the Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place2010 DelhiTeam

Personal

Abbott was born on 10 January 1986 in Darwin, Northern Territory, and is an Australian aboriginal.[1][2][3] His first name is Desmond but he is called Des.[4][5] One of his hobbies is playing Australia rules football.[1] He works for a water corporation.[2] His uncle is Joe Daby, one of the best ever Northern Territory field hockey players.[6] He is recognized in the Australian Olympic Committee list of Australian Indigenous Olympians.[7]

Field hockey

Abbott plays midfield and striker.[1][2] When playing for the national team, he wears guernsey 32.[2] He plays club hockey for the Aquinas Reds. He plays for the NT Stingers in the Australian Hockey League, where he wears shirt number 17.[2] He played in a June 2010 game for the NT Stingers against the Western Australia that Western Australia won 4–1. He scored a goal in the game.[8] In January 2005, he was a member of Australia's U21 national team and played in a five-game test series against Malaysia in Brisbane. He was one of four Darwin, Northern Territory based players on the squad.[9] In June 2005, he was one of five Northern Territory players to represent Australia on the U21 team at the World Cup.[9] In 2009, he played professional hockey in the Netherlands.[10]

National team

Abbott had his first cap for the senior side on 28 January 2007.[1][2] during the Dutch Series in Canberra.[11] In January 2008, he was a member of the senior national team that competed at the Five Nations men's hockey tournament in South Africa.[12] He won the Hockey Champions Trophy in 2008, 2009 and 2010.[2][13] He was a member of the 2009 Champions Trophy winning team, playing in the gold medal match against Germany that Australia won by a score of 5–3.[14] He was a member of the Australian side that took home gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the 2010 World Cup.[2]

Abbott competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics where he won a bronze medal.[1][2][15] In Australia's first game at the 2008 Games, he scored three goals in the game against Canada.[4] He was the first Aboriginal to represent Australia at the Games in men's field hockey.[5] He scored a goal in the bronze medal game against the Netherlands in the country's 6–1 victory.[16] New national team coach Ric Charlesworth named him, a returning member, alongside fourteen total new players who had few than 10 national team caps to the squad before in April 2009 in a bid to ready the team for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.[17] He did not compete at the Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia in May 2011 because he was injured.[18] In December 2011, he was named as one of twenty-eight players to be on the 2012 Summer Olympics Australian men's national training squad.[15][19][20] This squad will be narrowed in June 2012. He trained with the team from 18 January to mid-March in Perth, Western Australia.[3][19][21] He was one of two players from the Northern Territory named to the squad.[3] In February during the training camp, he played in a four nations test series with the teams being the Kookaburras, Australia A Squad, the Netherlands and Argentina.[22] He missed part of the training camp because of a strained quad.[15]

Recognition

In 2009, he was nominated for the Qantas NT Sportsperson of the Year.[4] He was nominated as the International Hockey Federation 2008 Young Men's Player of the Year, where he finished second.[4]

References
  1. "AIS Hockey — Des Abbott". Bruce, Australian Capital Territory: Australian Institute of Sport. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  2. "Hockey Australia: Des Abbott". Western Australia: Hockey Australia. 28 January 2007. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  3. "Olympic hopes – Territory pair in Kookaburras squad". Northern Territory News. Darwin, Australia. 15 December 2011. p. 36. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  4. "QANTAS NT SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR". Northern Territory News. Darwin, Australia. 27 March 2009. p. 32. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  5. Hinds, Richard (12 August 2008). "Dwyer injury scare mars Kookas' romp – BEIJING 08 – DAY 4 – HOCKEY – Australia 6 Canada 1". The Age. Melbourne, Australia. p. 7. Retrieved 16 March 2012.
  6. "THEY called Joe Daby the Flying 5 at NTFL club Nightcliff for 210 games and 18 seasons". Northern Territory News. Darwin, Australia. 25 February 2012. p. 516. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  7. "Australian Indigenous Olympians" (PDF). Australian Olympic Committee website. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  8. "scoreboard". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney, Australia. 21 June 2010. p. 49. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  9. "Territorians score on world stage". Northern Territory News. Darwin, Australia. 28 December 2005. p. 37. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  10. Pike, Chris (1 October 2009). "AAP News: Hock: Charlesworth junior ready to don head-band". AAP News. Australia: Financial Times Limited – Asia Africa Intelligence Wire. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  11. "Canberra Times: Lakers duo in Kookaburras side for series". The Canberra Times. Canberra, Australia: Financial Times Information Limited — Asia Africa Intelligence Wire. 14 November 2006. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  12. "Bulletin Wire: Fresh faces for next Kookaburras tour". Bulletin Wire. Australia: Financial Times Information Limited – Asia Africa Intelligence Wire. 20 December 2007. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  13. Hand, Guy (29 November 2009). "Kookaburras off to a flying start after four of the best". The Sun Herald. Sydney, Australia. p. 99. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  14. Hand, Guy (7 December 2009). "Epic fightback from Kookaburras secures perfect 10 – HOCKEY". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, Australia. Australian Associated Press. p. 12. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  15. Stephan, Gene (21 February 2012). "Kookaburras have no reason to laugh". The West Australian. Archived from the original on 24 October 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  16. "Australia beats Netherlands for bronze". Associated Press Archive. 23 August 2008. Retrieved 16 March 2012.
  17. "Carroll, Abbott in new-look Kookaburras". Northern Territory News. Darwin, Australia. 15 April 2009. p. 46. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  18. "Deavin back in 'Burras". Hobart Mercury. Hobart, Australia. 20 April 2011. p. 59. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  19. "Kookaburras name training squad for 2012 Olympic Games". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. Australian Associated Press. 14 December 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  20. "FOR THE RECORD". The Australian. Sydney, Australia. 15 December 2011. p. 35. AUS_T-20111215-1-035-447690. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  21. "SCOREBOARD". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney, Australia. 15 December 2011. p. 116. DTM_T-20111215-1-116-447684. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  22. "Kookaburras begin their Olympic Games Campaign". Perth, Western Australia: Hockey Australia. 7 February 2012. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
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