Pretoria News

SA hockey teams set for testing tourney

HERMAN GIBBS herman.gibbs@gmail.com

SOUTH Africa’s men’s and women’s teams are set for a reality check at the FIH (International Hockey Federation) Indoor World Cup, which starts tomorrow in Pretoria, at the Heartfelt Arena.

Tournament hosts South Africa have competed in four of the five previous editions of the Indoor World Cup.

The men’s side recorded a 10th-place finish at Leipzig 2003, the inaugural edition, and that remains their highest placement to date.

The Spar women’s team will be looking to better their previous best finish of ninth, which came at Leipzig 2015.

The SA men’s team have a world ranking of 14th and will compete in Pool B along with Iran, the Czech Republic, Australia, the US and Argentina.

The Spar women’s team will be playing in Pool A along with the Netherlands, Austria, Australia, the US and New Zealand.

In recent years, the men’s team have upped their game and were crowned continental champions at the 2021 Men’s Indoor Africa Cup after defeating Namibia 4-1.

Mustaphaa Cassiem scored 18 goals in the competition, with older brother Dayaan Cassiem bagging 16. The Cassiem brothers, with Chad Futcher and Jethro Eustice, have all been named in the squad for the six-a-side tournament.

SA men’s indoor coach, Justin Rosenberg, feels the side will offer a strong defence.

“Iran and the Czech Republic are two major powerhouses. Both had successful previous World Cups and finished high up in the placings.

“Our opening fixture is against Australia, who are coming off a great series against New Zealand, so we will need to stake our claim here.

“Our backs are strong with the likes of captain Jethro Eustice and the experienced Justin Domleo (42 caps). We also have some new guys in Dan Sibbald (13 caps) and Aiden Tun (20 caps) at the back and they know their way around.”

Two seasons ago the SA Women were runners-up in the 2021 Indoor Africa Cup, with Namibia defeating the host nation 2-0 in the competition final in Durban.

Tegan Fourie, who is in the SA squad, was the competition’s top scorer with 20 goals.

Also in the side is Edith Molikoe, another prolific scorer for South Africa. Together with Fourie, they form a terrific attacking spearhead.

“We find ourselves in the more difficult pool with the Netherlands and Australia ranked in the top three,” said SA women’s indoor coach Lennie Botha.

“Playing those two teams is a challenge for all participating teams.”

The tournament starts tomorrow at 8.30am and continues until next Saturday when the men’s and women’s finals will be played.

SPORT

en-za

2023-02-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-02-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://pretorianews.pressreader.com/article/281668259125181

African News Agency