Windhoek
Hosts Namibia got off to a good start in the Under-21 Africa Junior Hockey World Cup qualifiers, underway in Windhoek.
The Namibian ladies are among the favourites to qualify via a top two finish at the qualifiers for the World Cup, to be played in Chile in December this year.
The hosts won their opening match in the week-long tourney, defeating Zimbabwe 3:1 on Saturday evening, having accounted for Botswana’s invitational team 37:0 in a warm-up match a day earlier.
Namibia face defending champions and old foes South Africa in their next match today at 20h00 at the Davin Trustco Hockey Stadium at Windhoek High
School (WHS).
In another match in the ladies competition, Zimbabwe scored an astonishing 18 unanswered goals against an out-of-sorts Tanzania on Friday.
In the men’s competition, Namibia had a tough start and were unable to find the target against reigning African champions Egypt, conceding 8 goals on Friday afternoon. The hosts suffered another heavy defeat at the hands of South Africa, – going down 12:0.
The Tanzanian men’s team could also not get out of gear as they stumbled in both their opening two matches, losing 10:0 to Zimbabwe and 28:0 to Egypt.
The two favourites in the men’s competition, Egypt and South Africa, will face each other in the pool phase of the tourney tomorrow afternoon at 15:00 at the Aloe Park field, Windhoek Gymnasium School.
Matches today:
18:00 BOT – TAN Ladies (friendly) Davin Trustco Stadium (WHS)
20:00 NAM – RSA Ladies Davin Trustco Stadium (WHS)