With only three months left before the much-anticipated Indoor Hockey World Cup takes centre stage, Namibian hockey players are hard at work preparing for the world showpiece and will test themselves against South Africa this weekend.

The World Cup was originally scheduled to take place in Liege, Belgium in February this year, but was cancelled due to Covid regulations. In July this year, the FIH announced that the World Cup will now be held in Pretoria, South Africa from 5-11 February 2023.

The test-match tournament is organised by Namibia Hockey Union and sanctioned by the continental and global hockey bodies.

In an interview with New Era Sport yesterday, Erwin Handura, who takes care of the women’s team, said the games are important for both countries to know their readiness.

“We began our training in September and we have played various matches against the men’s team. Judging from the performance of the players on the field, I believe my charges are ready for the upcoming games,” he said.

Men’s coach Trevor Cormack also said their preparations are going well with the local players available at the moment. 

“It’s not how we want it to be as most of my players are in South Africa and Holland. We are hoping to have some of our key players in the country by Thursday to make up our full squad. I also think despite us not having all our players, these games will be of great importance to our local players; it will give them enough game time to improve and work on their skills,” he said.

Games will be played at the Windhoek Showgrounds, with the first men’s match starting at 12h00 on Friday and the second one at 20h00. On Saturday, games will be played in the same slots, with the final scheduled for 10h45 on Sunday.

The first women’s match will begin on Friday at 10h30, with the second match set to commence at 18h30. Action in the women’s matches will resume on Saturday in the same time slots, while the last match will be played on Sunday at 09h00. 

- mkambukwe@nepc.com.na