Namibia’s junior women’s and men’s hockey teams have successfully qualified for the upcoming Junior World Cups, set to take place in Chile and India, respectively.
Their qualification follows a strong showing at the Junior Africa Cup, held in Windhoek from 18 to 25 April, where they competed against top continental teams.
In the women’s competition, South Africa proved dominant, winning all five of their matches to top the standings with 15 points.
Namibia finished in second place after securing four victories, giving them a total of 12 points.
Zimbabwe claimed third place after a decisive win over Uganda, with all three teams earning a spot at the Junior Women’s World Cup in Chile.
The men’s tournament followed a similar pattern, with South Africa finishing first after winning all five of their matches to collect 15 points.
Namibia came in second with four wins and 12 points, while Egypt secured the bronze medal position.
These three teams will now head to the Junior Men’s World Cup in India.
Following the tournament, International Hockey Federation (FIH) president Tayyab Ikram extended his congratulations to the qualifying teams.
“Congratulations to South Africa (women and men), Namibia (women and men), Zimbabwe (women) and Egypt (men) for clinching the top three spots of the Junior Africa Cup and therefore qualifying for the Junior World Cups that will be played in Chile (women) and India (men) – and will, for the first time, involve 24 teams each… enabling greater accessibility to our events is one of the fundamental principles of the FIH empowerment and engagement
strategy,” he stated.
The women’s World Cup will take place in Santiago, Chile.
Alongside host nation Chile, teams that have qualified from the Americas include Argentina, Uruguay, the United States and Canada.
From Europe, Austria, Belgium, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, Wales and Scotland have secured places.
India, China, Japan, Korea and Malaysia qualified from Asia, while Australia and New Zealand earned their spots from Oceania.
The men’s World Cup will be held in the Indian cities of Chennai and Madurai.
India automatically qualified as host nation.
Other qualified teams include Belgium, England, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, Austria and Switzerland from Europe.
Argentina, Canada and Chile will represent the Americas.
From Asia, Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand have earned qualification.
Australia and New Zealand complete the lineup from Oceania.