African Hockey Federation | Featured Archives - Page 3 of 10

FIH CEO Thierry Weil: “Hockey5s is a great lever to grow hockey”

7 June 2022 Lausanne, Switzerland: In an exclusive interview with FIH.hockey, FIH CEO Thierry Weil reflects on the Hero FIH Hockey5s Lausanne 2022 which took place in the Olympic Capital on 4 and 5 June. Thierry, what do you keep in mind from this first Hero FIH Hockey5s Lausanne 2022? What I particularly enjoyed was the fact that people having a walk at the Place de la Navigation around the lake in Lausanne, stopped, looked at what was going on and eventually decided to move into the stadium and watch the games! This was exactly the purpose of this event: bringing hockey to people. Then of course the huge enthusiasm of the players to play this format – for some of them for the first time – as well as the intensity of the matches were a blessing. India men – considered as pre-tournament favourites – won. But for the women, the winners were Uruguay, therefore confirming that Hockey5s enables nations who are not necessarily regarded as powerhouses of world hockey to excel. How do you look at this? Here again, this is fantastic since one of the main reasons why FIH has decided to boost the promotion of Hockey5s is precisely because this format enables some smaller nations to play at the same level as the traditionally bigger ones and even beat them! Extrapolating from this, it means that numerous nations in the world could start hockey with Hockey5s, which it’s simpler and cheaper to put in place. Speaking of India, what do you think of the current situation with Hockey India? It’s 100% clear that every National Association has to make sure that its Statutes are compliant with the sports code of the local authorities. Therefore, if this is not the case for Hockey India at the moment, then this has to happen. However, this situation does not affect FIH’s full trust in Hockey India. Indeed, Hockey India has been and continues to be a key actor of the development of our sport, not only in the country, but also for the world, as an outstanding organiser of numerous FIH events. How can Hockey5s support the overall growth of hockey? Hockey5s is a great lever to boost the growth of hockey at the global level. Thanks to its less restrictive infrastructure – smaller field – but also to the required number of players, the practice of Hockey5s can be a real development asset for many nations in the world. Developing the sport is the number 1 mission of any international federation. The same goes for FIH. This is why, among other things, the FIH has decided to create a Hockey5s World Cup (first edition in 2024). In addition, the size of the field also makes it possible to anchor the Hockey5s in the heart of cities, giving it an urban dimension that is very fashionable and attractive, especially among young people. Finally, Hockey5s is an excellent springboard, a “gateway”, to 11-a-side hockey. #Hockey5s #HockeyEquals #HockeyInvites For more information about FIH and hockey in general, please consult FIH.hockey, follow the FIH social media channels – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – and download the Watch.Hockey app.

Ghana qualifies for 2022 Commonwealth Games

Ghana female and male teams qualifies for the next 2022 Commonwealth games in England, Birmingham City. The women gain a second qualification while the men will have their first appearance in this event. The women just won silver at the just ended African Hockey Cup of Nations whilst the men made fifth place. The tournament is scheduled for 28th July to 8th August 2022. Source: ghanahockey.org

South Africa’s World Cup adventures underway after success in Accra

23 January 2022 Lausanne, Switzerland: The Africa Cup of Nations saw a week of exciting hockey action culminate in a double victory for South Africa, giving the top ranked teams in both the men’s and women’s competition automatic qualification for the respective FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar and Rourkela and the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup, Spain and Netherlands 2022. The seven days of action took place at the Theodosia Okoh Stadium in Accra, Ghana, with seven men’s and eight women’s teams competing for the continental crown as well as a coveted qualification spot at the FIH blue riband events. Although South Africa men’s and women’s hockey teams continue their dominance at this event, both finals were tough contests. The women went behind to a well-organised and hard-working Ghana team before rallying and winning 3-1. The men were held to a 1-1 scoreline by a resilient and skilful Egypt, but held their nerve to win the shoot-out by a 3-1 scoreline. In the women’s final, the host nation was hoping that home advantage would serve the players well as they faced South Africa in the final. This was the fifth consecutive final in which the two teams had faced each other, with South Africa emerging the victor on each of the previous occasions. Both teams had shown good form going into the final: South Africa were unbeaten and had conceded no goals to that point. Ghana had drawn with Nigeria and won their other two matches with ease. An early goal from Elizabeth Opoku – following the award of a penalty stroke against South Africa – gave Ghana the lead in the sixth minute. The noise levels among the spectators rose as they sensed the opportunity for an upset. However, South Africa responded well and were 2-1 ahead at half-time, courtesy of goals from Charne Maddocks and Kristen Paton. The match was put beyond doubt in the final quarter when Lillian du Plessis scored a penalty stroke to give her side a 3-1 lead. Tarryn Glasby of South Africa was the competition’s overall top scorer with nine goals. Speaking after the match, she said: ‘It is nice to get a win in Ghana. As a striker you are supposed to score goals, so I am happy to be the top scorer. Looking forward to the World Cup, it is all about trusting our processes.’ The captain of Ghana women, Nafisatu Umara, said: ’We are impressed with our performance. We took the lead in the first quarter, which shows how much we have really improved. We now have the courage to carry the ball, so we are happy with our performance. The last time we played South Africa we lost 6-0, so this was a big improvement. We will look at what happened today, we will do our homework and next time we will beat them.’ South Africa’s Head Coach Inky Zondy said: ‘I am really excited and really happy with the game. It was a tough game, so thank you to Ghana. We have really enjoyed our week here. We are a team that has changed, so we have to learn from what has happened this week and represent Africa well at the World Cup.’ In the men’s final, it was a repeat of the previous five editions, with reigning champions South Africa facing Egypt. Any hope Egypt had of hitting South Africa hard in the early stages was dashed when Matt Guise-Brown stepped up to fire home a penalty corner in the 12th minute. South Africa looked comfortably in control of the game for much of the first half but they failed to capitalise on a number of chances. With seven minutes of the half remaining, Egypt’s Ziad Adel took the opportunity to even the scores with a well-taken goal that eluded Siyavuya Nolutshungu in the South African goal. The teams continued to probe and seek a breakthrough throughout the third quarter but neither team could find the goal. With 15 minutes left, South Africa turned up the pressure a notch. An early penalty corner attempt flew wide and a devastating run from Nqobile Ntuli ended with a tame shot. Egypt continued to dig deep defensively and the team’s resilience paid off as the final whistle blew and the match went to shoot-out for the first time since 2005 [when South Africa beat Egypt 3-2 on penalty strokes]. Clinical finishing by the South African attackers and some great goalkeeping by Nolutshungu saw the higher ranked team finally break down their Egyptian rivals as South Africa won the shoot-out 3-1. Speaking after the match, South Africa’s Head Coach Gareth Ewing said: ’I’m shattered. That was too close for comfort. Ghana is such a great host, there was such a great atmosphere in the stadium, it was great to win. Based on tonight’s performance, we have a lot to do before the World Cup.’ Captain of South Africa, Tim Drummond said: ’We are ecstatic. That was tough but we are missing some players so that shows that we have depth in the squad. There is a long way to go before the World Cup but we hope to make a lot of improvement and finish in the top ten.’ Egypt’s Head Coach Zaman Tahir, said: ‘That was heartbreaking for all the boys. South Africa’s experience to handle this sort of pressure is huge. Shoot-out is down to nerves and South Africa had an advantage. Losing on shoot-out – it could have been any one’s game.’ South Africa’s penalty corner specialist Matthew Guise-Brown was top goalscorer with six goals. Earlier in the day, Kenya women had taken third place after they beat Zimbabwe in a tense match that had finished goalless at full time. Kenya’s goal keeper Milicent Adhiambo performed heroics to keep the Zimbabwe attackers at bay and the Kenyan team were able to finished one place higher than their previous fourth place in 2017. In the men’s match to decide third place, Nigeria put in an energetic

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ACN 2022 | South Africa seal top spot of Pool A in Kenya victory

With both South Africa and Kenya having already qualified from Pool A for the Semi-Finals following respective victories against Namibia. The two sides have played some classic matches over the years, none more than the 2-1 victory for South Africa at the 2015 Greenfields African Championships. Both teams were keen to secure top spot and the favourable draw in the Semi-Finals. For South Africa the match marked goalkeepers 50th cap for the country. Kenya started the game a little bit faster than the South Africans and won an early penalty corner. What would become a theme of the game on an inconsistent turf was the opportunity was lost. But it hardly mattered, and Kenya created another chance from the resultant play which Festus Onyango should have done better with. South Africa then created arguably the finest opportunity of the opening interchanges when a ball fell to Keenan Horne. The opportunity looked like a replica of his opportunity against Germany at the Tokyo Olympics, but it was well saved by Shidogo in the Kenyan goal. A brilliant defensive block denied Brad Sherwood his third international goal after a scintillating run by the South African co vice-captain Bili Ntuli. South Africa and Kenya were awarded a number of penalty corners, but the titanic chess match played out as a goalless first half, much like a match between two teams already qualified for the semi-finals. The second half saw South Africa take the lead, which was probably deserved on the balance of play. Keenan Horne called for a quick ball from the sideline that caught the Kenyan defenders napping and a selfless ball to Bili Ntuli left the striker a simple job of tapping in. Ntuli and Spooner, a combination that works well for Harvestehuder in Germany, worked again for the South Africans as Spooner fired in a pinpoint cross and Ntuli was on hand to steer it home to give the South Africans a 2-0 lead. With the number of penalty corners being given away, it felt like one would eventually go in for one of the teams. And to the disappointment of the South Africans, it was the Kenyans who scored it. Captain Constance Wankgura fired it past Siya Nolutshungu to set up a grandstand finish. But rather than ending in a storm the game petered out with errors more telling than moments of brilliance. As a result, South Africa will now watch the action tomorrow to find out who they take on in the Semi-Finals on Saturday, while a date with Egypt is looming for the Kenyan Men. Tim Drummond, captain of South Africa. “Its always a physical game against Kenya. They are fit and a good team. We pride ourselves on our defence we will look at the video afterwards and see the areas that we need to improve. We always want to score goals and we will see different things we can do in the Semi-Final on Saturday.’

ACN 2022 | South Africa first side to seal semi-final berth with victory over Namibia

South Africa took on their Southern African counterparts Namibia on day 2 of the 2022 African Cup of Nations in Accra, Ghana. With both sides having won their opening games, a victory for the South Africans would secure a semi-final spot thanks to Zimbabwe’s victory over Uganda. South Africa started the game with good determination and looked more settled on the pitch after struggling in their opening match. Lilian du Plessis put the South Africans ahead as she continues a remarkable goal scoring record at the Continental Championship. The South Africans were made to toil for their second, which eventually came from a penalty corner which was not cleared. Stephanie Botha reacted first and with a low shot fired her first International Goal into the bottom right corner. As coach Inky Zondi was preparing his half time talk, he had to probably change a few sentences though when Tarryn Lombard added the third for South Africa, her second of the tournament and put a bit of gloss onto the scoreboard at the break. South Africa struck the first blow of the second half when Nomnikelo Veto reacted first to a loose ball and assisted Tegan Fourie, who would not miss. 4-0 to the defending champions. If the Namibians were hoping for the barrage to stop, they would be left hopeless as Lombard popped up with a clinical display that gave the Namibians no chance. It was Nomnikelo Veto who made it six of the best when she finished after Robyn Johnson’s shot was saved from close quarters. Although South Africa were still able to win several penalty corners in the last few minutes of the game they were unable to convert any further opportunities and ultimately the match finished 6-0 to the South Africans. As a result of the victory, coupled with Zimbabwe’s win, South Africa are now guaranteed of a place in the semi-finals and their quest to qualify for the FIH Hockey World Cup continues. The team will still have to finish the group stage when they take on Uganda on Thursday at 19:00 South African Time. Phumelela Mbande, captain of the South African team, shared her thoughts on the match. “We were a lot more intentional and ruthless today. We try to improve game on game and our execution was far better. We will continue to learn as we progress through the tournament and look to deliver on our potential!” AFCON 2022 – Day 2 Results Women Pool A South Africa 13-0 Namibia Zimbabwe 5-0 Uganda Pool B Nigeria 2-1 Zambia Kenya 0-5 Ghana (Kenya Forfeit the game) Source: SAHockey.co.za

Media Release – Argentina tops the polls in FIH Best of 2021 fan vote

14 January 2022 Lausanne, Switzerland: The top honours in the FIH Best of 2021 fan vote have both gone the way of Argentina, with the men’s team taking the Best Goal prize and the women the award for Best Match, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) can reveal. The Best Goal of 2021 award, as voted for by the fans of the sport, goes to Nicolas Keenan’s outrageous smash-shot against host nation Japan in the pool phase of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Following an exchange of passes with Juan Lopez, Keenan produced a moment of sporting magic with three touches all within a second of each other, lifting the ball over a defender’s stick at the top of the circle before changing the angle in mid-air and crashing a vicious overhead strike against the backboard of the Japanese goal. It was a strike of pure, instinctive brilliance from Keenan, a truly iconic moment from a wonderful hockey competition at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The fan’s choice for the Best Match of 2021 also came from Tokyo 2020, with Argentina’s superb 3-0 quarter-final triumph over Germany generating the most votes. Germany’s second place finish behind the Netherlands in Pool A saw them come into the match against Las Leonas, who finished third in Pool B, as marginal favourites. However, the giants of Pan American hockey produced a dominant display against Die Danas, with the deadlock being broken in the 27th minute by Agustina Albertarrio, a goal voted by the fans as the second best of 2021. A Victoria Granatto penalty corner doubled Argentina’s advantage just before half time, with the result being put beyond all doubt by teenager and FIH Rising Star of the Year 2021 nominee Valentina Raposo, who fired home a superb penalty corner strike to send the eventual silver medallists into the semi-finals. The top three in both the best goal and best match categories can be found below. Best Goal of 2021 1st Place: Nicolas Keenan (ARG). Argentina Men v Japan (Pool phase) – Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 2nd Place: Agustina Albertarrio (ARG). Argentina Women v Germany (Quarter-Final) – Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 3rd Place: Dayaan Cassiem (RSA). South Africa Men v Belgium (Pool phase) – Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Best Match of 2021 1st Place: Olympic Games Tokyo 2020: Women’s Quarter-Final – Germany 0-3 Argentina 2nd Place: Olympic Games Tokyo 2020: Men’s Pool B – South Africa 4-3 Germany 3rd Place: Olympic Games Tokyo 2020: Men’s Bronze Medal – Germany 4-5 India To see the complete shortlists for the goal and match of 2021 categories, please click here. For more information about FIH and hockey in general, please download the Watch.Hockey app or follow the FIH social media channels – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – and website. #FavouriteGoal #FavouriteMatch #HockeyInvites

Bhubaneshwar 2021 – South Africa finish record high of 9th following defeat of Korea

South Africa and Korea completed their Junior World Cup 2021 journey as they played out the 9th place playoff. For the Korean’s it was on opportunity to end the tournament that had far loftier ambitions on a high, while the South Africans had the opportunity to complete their highest ever Junior World Cup finish, something they had at least earned a share of before the game. The South Africans started the game of the better and created several opportunities which they were unable to convert and slowly but surely it allowed Korea to develop a foothold in the game. Despite both teams’ best efforts, the half time score line was a fair 0-0. The game sprung to life in the second half when Trevor de Lora surged into the circle only for a mistimed tackle to award the first penalty corner of the game to the South Africans. Skipper Guy Morgan stepped up and produced the most venomous flick of the tournament that almost tore through the net to give the lead to the African nation. South Africa had the momentum and created a few circle penetrations and shots at goal in the immediate minutes after that without scoring. Korea should have levelled as they broke with two strikers, but the opportunity was wasted. As the third quarter ran down there was time for another big South African chance, but it went astray as Marvin Simons fired wide as he lost his balance. One quarter remained with the score 1-0 to South Africa. The men in green and gold went all out in the final quarter, and they sensed their moment to re-write the history books and it was the inspirational Guy Morgan that doubled the lead with his second of the game and sixth of the tournament from another penalty corner. As the celebrations were continuing across the country the South Africans landed another punch, that ultimately had a knockout feeling to it. Trevor de Lora stealing in and finishing superbly. Zenani Kraai though stuck in a fourth after a free-flowing team movement with a late Posthumus touch left an open goal which Kraai found with tremendous joy. 4-0. It should have probably been more as the South Africans missed a few chances that you would be forgiven for thinking they would score, After the game man of the match Guy Morgan shared his thoughts: “We were a bit frustrated by our slow start, but after half-time we got it right and it’s been awesome. Thank you to the organisers, the officials and everyone involved it’s been a wonderful experience for our whole team, and I am extremely proud of our boys!” After a preparation that was plagued by delays due to the coronavirus pandemic, the SA U21 Men have produced a tournament and result to be immensely proud of for the country.

Media Release – FIH signs first-ever media rights agreement with SABC

22 November 2021 Lausanne, Switzerland: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has signed a media rights agreement with South Africa’s national public broadcaster SABC for the upcoming FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup South Africa 2021. FIH’s flagship event for Women’s Juniors will take place at the North-West University (NWU) of the academic city of Potchefstroom – situated approx. 120 km west-southwest of Johannesburg – from 5 to 16 December 2021. It will involve 16 teams from all around the world. Through this agreement, the SABC will produce all matches of the event and broadcast them in South Africa, either live or delayed. This is the first time that FIH signs a partnership with SABC. Commenting on the news, FIH CEO Thierry Weil said: “The FIH Hockey Junior World Cups are known to be the perfect platforms for future hockey stars to rise! We’re really glad to be partnering with such a recognised broadcaster as SABC, who will help us convey the performance of these hugely talented young female players to all hockey fans in South Africa, and also to the rest of the world, thanks to the production of the international feed. We look forward to an amazing event in South Africa!” Head of Sport for the SABC, Gary Rathbone, indicated that this is an exciting opportunity for the public service broadcaster to showcase international hockey in South Africa. “Hockey is one of the fastest growing sports in SA schools and the SABC is delighted to bring all South Africans who love the game, a chance to see the international stars of the future of Women’s hockey, in action on home soil. Being broadcasted on the SABC platforms means that everyone will be able to access great sporting action that will surely inspire the next generation of SA hockey talent.” For more information about FIH and hockey in general, please download the Watch.Hockey app or follow the FIH social media channels – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – and website. #RisingStars

Trio of teams challenge for World Cup qualification

April 13, 2021 The Indoor African Cup will take place in Thomas Moore College, Kloof., South Africa on 16-18 April. The reward for the winning men’s and women’s teams will be a place at the 2022 FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup to be held in Liège, Belgium. Taking part in the African qualifying competition are three teams that have embraced the indoor game – South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. The three teams – men and women – will play a round robin competition to decide who represents the continent at the World Cup. South Africa men will be overwhelming favourites for the title as the highest ranked team – the men rank 11th in the world. In the women’s event, things are less clear cut. While South Africa women have enjoyed a run of successful test matches in which they defeated Switzerland, Ireland and Poland, Namibia are the higher ranked team – at 9th in the world – courtesy of their participation in the FIH Indoor Hockey World cup 2018. The South Africa women’s squad, which is ranked at 14, is brimful of experienced players, including Cindy Hack and Jess O’Connor, who both have more than 100 caps for the indoor national squad. Also part of the squad are international outdoor players Celia Seerane (nee Evans) and Tegan Fourie. South Africa men have a blend of experience and youth in the ranks. Justin Domleo has been to two World Cups, and he is joined by Jethro Eustice and Rusten Abrahams who both played in the 2018 Indoor Hockey World Cup in Berlin, Germany. Bongumusa Mngoma and Dan Sibbald will both be making their debuts as international athletes. The South Africa teams will not get an easy ride however. Namibia women defeated South Africa to qualify for the 2018 Indoor Hockey World Cup and will be looking to repeat that performance, while the men have their own aspirations to follow in their female counterpart’s footsteps. Underlining the athlete’s ambitions, President of Namibia Hockey Union (NHU) Marc Nel said: “We are going there to compete and not just to participate. Our drive is to fly the Namibian flag high, so like any other games, we are taking this very seriously. Both teams are ranked in the top 20, with the women’s team ranked 9th, while the men’s team is ranked 17th in the world, which I believe are all good positions for our teams.” Botswana men and women have yet to receive a world ranking but the national team has been training hard. Zimbabwe’s Sharne Mayar will be one of the umpires at the event and she said: “It will be a showcase of amazing talent. It will be three days of really good hockey played by the best nations in Africa. “The game is spreading and growing. We have seen Botswana build a team, and that is very exciting because it is more people playing hockey across the continent at all levels of the game.” The Indoor African Cup will take place on 16-18 April in Thomas Moore College, Kloof. Keep up with results and news via the FIH website. The matches will also be streamed live on the Watch.Hockey App. #IHWC2022 #IndoorHockey Source: FIH.CH

Pablo Negre Turf Inaugurated for Malawi 2021

Africa Hockey News | 19 Oct. 2020: Blantyre, Malawi 🇲🇼 Inauguration of the Pablo Negre Turf in presence of Minister of Youth & Sports Mr. Ulemu Msungama and the African Hockey Federation President & FIH EB member Mr. Seif Ahmed. ACCC 2020 to be postponed from Dec. 2020 to take place in Malawi during 2021.