Windhoek
Namibia’s Under-21 ladies hockey side put up an impressive performance against overwhelming favourites South Africa during the Under-21 Africa Junior Hockey World Cup qualifiers at the Davin Trustco Stadium in Windhoek on Tuesday.
Despite losing star forward Dunell van Taak after 10 minutes, due to a serious shoulder injury, the hosts never allowed their much fancied opponents to dominate proceedings.
South Africa took the lead through two quick short corners, while Namibia could not convert their allocated five short corners, which ended up proving the decisive factor. Namibia’s strong defence and a 5-star performance by their goalkeeper was key to this remarkable clash of the titans.With a final score of 2-nil, having trailed 1-0 at the break, Namibia’s respectable showing certainly confirmed their credentials as one of the tourney’s favourites to qualify for the World Cup in Chile later this year.
Earlier in the day, Tanzania and Botswana were engaged in a friendly match, with the former winning comfortably by 3 goals without a reply. The Namibian men had a rest on Tuesday and will battle it out against Zimbabwe later today at 17h00 at the Aloe Park hockey field.
Other results read as follows:
1 Pool 18 Mar ZIM – TAN 10-1
2 Pool EGY – NAM 8-0
3 Pool 20 Mar EGY – TAN 28-0
4 Pool RSA – NAM 12-0
5 Pool 21 Mar ZIM – RSA 0 -11
6 Pool TAN – NAM 0-23
Men Fixtures
9 Pool 24 Mar 17h00 Davin Trustco Stadium ZIM vs EGYPT
10 Pool 17h00 Aloe Park RSA vs TANZANIA
11 25 Mar 08h30 Davin Trustco Stadium 4th in Pool – 5th in Pool
12 27 Mar 13h00 Aloe Park 1st in Pool – Winner #11
13 15h30 Aloe Park 2nd in Pool – 3rd in Pool
14 3rd Place play-off 28 Mar 11h30 Davin Trustco Stadium Loser #12 – Loser #13
15 Final 14h00 Davin Trustco Stadium Winner #12 – Winner #13 Ladies Fixtures
9 Pool 24 Mar 19h00 Davin Trustco Stadium TAN vs NAM
10 Pool 19h00 Aloe Park RSA vs ZIM
11 25 Mar 16h00 Davin Trustco Stadium 4th in Pool – 5th in Pool
12 26 Mar 17h30 Aloe Park 1st in Pool – Winner #11
13 20h00 Aloe Park 2nd in Pool – 3rd in Pool
14 3rd/4th Place 27 Mar 18h00 Aloe Park Loser #12 – Loser #13
15 Final 28 Mar 09h00 Davin Trustco Stadium Winner #12 – Winner #13
Caption: Nam Hockey Ladies.jpg –
Brave hearts… The Namibian Under-21 ladies hockey team in fierce battle against old foes South Africa at the Davin Trustco Stadium in Windhoek on Tuesday. Hosts Namibia narrowly lost 2-0.