Bury St Edmunds Hockey Club couple Juliet (Jet) and Ian Konrath both strike gold with England at Masters World Cup
A husband and wife who play for Bury St Edmunds Hockey Club both returned from Masters World Cup duty in South Africa with gold medals around their necks.
Juliet – better know as Jet – and Ian Konrath of Great Barton helped their respective England sides go all the way in Cape Town earlier this month.
Jet was part of an unbeaten England Women’s Over-55s team in the Masters World Cup while Ian’s success came in the Spirit of Masters competition with the Men’s Over-55s ‘B’ squad.
The 57-year-old forward who plays for Bury’s Men’s IV team scored twice in a thrilling final as England beat hosts South Africa 6-4 in what was his first major Masters tournament.
Jet’s side beat Scotland 1-0 in the final in a close encounter with Liz Cleverly scoring the winning goal in the 16th minute.
It saw the Great Finborough School PE teacher capture her first World Cup Masters gold medal, having won bronze in Barcelona in 2018 and been unable to make it to Australia.
“I’m really, really pleased to have finally got it and it feels fantastic,” said the 54-year-old defender, who plays between Bury’s Ladies’ first and second teams.
“It was an absolutely amazing experience.
“They talk at this level that winning is about the small margins and we really did go in with a team dedicated to doing really well.
“We played seven games in 10 days but still managed to fit in training and analysis sessions to make sure we had the best chance and it created a really cohesive team.”
The Bury club were also represented at the tournament by Sean Milbank in the Wales Men’s Over-50s team and Patrick Sullivan in the Ireland Men’s Over-55s in the Spirit of Masters.
“It was great to have two other members of the club out there and see how they were getting on,” said Jet.
The tournament involved 84 teams from 22 different countries in four different age groups and saw England return as the most successful country, with five gold, two silver and two bronze medals.
