African Games 2023: ‘We are here to play; not to find excuses not to play’ – African Hockey Chief

    The African Hockey Federation is unhappy about South Africa’s decision to withdraw their male and female teams from the ongoing African Games, Accra 2023. At a press briefing in Accra on Tuesday, Seif Ahmed, President of the African Hockey Federation said “We came to play. Not to find excuses not to play.” South Africa pulled their teams out of the competition, citing safety concerns with the pitch. “I believe hockey in Africa will benefit greatly from this pitch. There are 25 countries playing hockey in Africa. Only one country, South Africa has certified turfs. “Of course, if we take over the turf late we cannot certify it. But, from our experience, we know it is safe to be used.” The continental President intimated that South Africa did not follow due process in deciding to withdraw from the competition. He added that the claim that the pitch was substandard was untenable as the turf had not been laid at the time that the pictures being peddled by the South Africans were taken and also, as the quality of the turf could not be ascertained from the pictures taken. Mr. Seif further stated that the mandatory requirement for certification only arises where a pitch is to be used for Olympic qualifiers. “What we have heard is that the real reason South Africa pulled out of the competition is because they are afraid of injuries, as they are preparing for the Olympic Games. We are here to protect the athletes, but we have no control over injuries.” South Africa’s male and female teams qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games after competing on the old turf at the Theodosia Okoh Hockey Pitch in Accra in the African Cup of Nations, in 2022. The newly installed surface at the Pitch is of the highest quality and is the same surface to be used at the upcoming Paris Olympics. With the exception of hockey, South Africa is competing in seventeen (17) other disciplines at Accra 2023 with a contingent of three hundred and forty-six (346). With over 5,000 athletes from 54 countries participating, the Games is featuring twenty-nine (29) different sporting disciplines across two cities – Accra and Cape Coast. Source: www.myjoyonline.com | March 19, 2024

    Kenya Hockey Queens fall to Ghana in Africa Opener

      While the result doesn’t reflect the potential of the Kenyan team, it tells the entire story of what ill preparations can do to the confidence of players. The Kenyan women’s hockey team kicked off the African Games on the wrong footing after falling 4-1 to Ghana at the Theodosia Okoh Stadium on Sunday.  Ordinarily, matches pitting Kenya and Ghana are closely contested but the host capitalized on home advantage to floor the second best team in the continent. Ghana broke the deadlock in the ninth minute through Elizabeth Opoku who has a rich history of scoring in this fixture and against Kenyan clubs in the club championships.  Berko Marvis doubled the advantage for Ghana in the 19th minute, sounding the board from a penalty corner. Vivian Narkuor’a field goal in the 27th minute stretched the advantage to Ghana who had the best possible start in the encounter as by the time the teams went for half time they had a healthy lead. Opoku who doubles up as the skipper sealed her brace and the fourth goal for Ghana in the 33rd minute much to the disappointment of the Kenyan girls who were hoping to work on a possible come back from the third quarter.  Kenya grabbed the consolation goal in the 56th minute through Vivian Onyango who scored from the spot. While the result doesn’t reflect the potential of the Kenyan team, it  tells the entire story of what ill preparations can do to the confidence of players.  The team that arrived a day to the start didn’t play test matches and travelled without important members of the technical bench due to limited funding. Apart from coach Meshack Senge, the only other technical bench member accompanying the team is manager Jane Nyamogo.  Senge’s charges will look to redeem themselves when they play Nigeria on Tuesday. In the absence of South Africa who withdrew, Ghana and Kenya stand a chance of clinching the title. The African champions reportedly cited ill preparations by the host country  and the state of the pitch for their withdrawal. Source: www.michezoafrika.com | March 18, 2024

      African Games 2023: Ghana off to winning start with victory over rivals Nigeria

        Ghana got off to a winning start on day one of the men’s hockey competition of the 2023 African Games, with a 1-0 victory over rivals Nigeria, at the Theodosia Okoh Hockey Stadium on Sunday. The cagey encounter saw few chances until Damalie Luke broke the deadlock by scoring late to give the Black sticks what proved to be the winner in the dying embers of the game. The hard-fought win hands the host three points and the bragging right over their West African counterpart. “At a point, our game plan changed but we had to keep our cool and prove to them [Nigeria] that we are better than them. Going forward you’ll see better performance from us,” Ghana captain Abbiw Charles told JoySports. Elsewhere, Egypt emerged 3-2 winners over Kenya in a five-goal thriller. Meanwhile in the Women’s category, Ghana demolished Kenya 4-1 in what was an impressive performance. Goals from Berko Mavis, Narkuor Vivian and a brace from captain, Elizabeth Opoku ensured that the Black Stick women started the tournament on a high note. Elizabeth expressed confidence about the team’s chances of winning the competition. “We are taking one match at a time and we need to correct the mistakes we did today and be ready for the next game against Nigeria, whom we have to beat at all cost to make it to the final,” she said. “Our target is the ultimate (first) and I believe we can do it.” Source: www.myjoyonline.com | March 18, 2023

        Paris 2024 Hockey Olympic tournaments’ schedules revealed

          Lausanne, Switzerland: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) is glad to announce that, at a ceremony held at the Olympic House in Lausanne earlier today, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach and FIH President Tayyab Ikram unveiled the competition schedule for hockey at Paris 2024, to be played from 27 July to 9 August. The hockey tournaments of the XXXIII Olympiad will be played in the historical venue of the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium – an Olympic Games arena in 1924! – in Colombes, near Paris. 12 men’s and 12 women’s national teams will compete to clinch the highly coveted Olympic medals, including Dutch women and Belgian men who will compete in the event as the reigning gold medalists from the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Both men’s and women’s hockey tournaments at Paris 2024 will get underway on 27 July. The first match of Hockey at Paris 2024 will be an all-European affair with Great Britain taking on Spain in the men’s Pool A match at 10:00 CEST. The women’s competition will begin on the same evening at 19:45 CEST with silver medalists from Tokyo 2020, Argentina, beginning their quest to go one step further this time, against USA in the women’s Pool B encounter. The pool stages in both tournaments will be played till 3 August, followed by knockout matches starting 4 August. The medal matches for men’s Hockey at Paris 2024 will be played on 8 August, followed by medal matches for the women’s tournament on 9 August. To see the complete match schedule for Hockey at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, click here. The ticket sales for the hockey tournaments at Paris 2024 also opened earlier today. The tickets can be purchased by clicking here. Introduced at the Olympic Games London 1908, men’s hockey will be played at the Olympic Games for the 25th time during Paris 2024, while women’s hockey, which made its first appearance during Olympic Games Moscow 1980, will be played for the 12th consecutive edition at Paris 2024. Please visit Olympics.Hockey for the latest news and all the information from FIH about the Paris 2024 hockey Olympic tournaments! #Paris2024 #HockeyEquals #HockeyInvites 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.

          2024 Women’s Nations Cup to be played in Terrassa, Spain

            Lausanne, Switzerland: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) is glad to announce that the city of Terrassa, Spain will host the upcoming Women’s  FIH Hockey Nations Cup from 3 to 9 June 2024. Terrassa is a renowned venue for international hockey that successfully hosted, amongst others, the 1992 Olympic hockey tournaments and the 2022 FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup. The matches will be played at the Martí Colomer Stadium, which is home to Spanish hockey club Linia 22. The impressive line-up of participating teams includes Spain, Chile, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea and New Zealand! “We are very pleased to be able to host the FIH Hockey Nations Cup for the second year in a row. At the Royal Spanish Federation, we are committed to our players and believe that playing at home is very special for them and for all the fans. We believe that major sporting events are key to our growth, and after a great World Cup in Terrassa in 2022, the Estadi Martí Colomer will take over from the Estadi Olímpic. This stadium has already experienced a great Final Four and the Centennial Tournament in 2023 and we believe that the Nations Cup will be a great success for our sport, our players and the city of Terrassa”, Royal Spanish Hockey Federation Santiago Deó stated. FIH President Tayyab Ikram said: “After the success of the 2022 FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup, it’s fantastic to go back to Terrassa for the second edition of the FIH Hockey Nations Cup, the inaugural edition of which was also magnificently hosted in Spain, in Valencia at the time. There is a lot at stake for the teams with, in particular, a qualification to the FIH Hockey Pro League for the winners! On behalf of FIH, I’d like to thank wholeheartedly the Royal Spanish Hockey Federation as well as the local authorities of Terrassa for all their efforts to make this event another memorable one for all involved, athletes and fans in particular.” The 2024 Men’s FIH Hockey Nations Cup will be staged in Gniezno, Poland (31 May to 9 June 2024). The winners, women and men, of the 2024 FIH Hockey Nations Cup will join the 2024-25 FIH Hockey Pro League season. The FIH Hockey Nations Cup was launched in 2021 with the aim of offering a top-level competition to the best-ranked teams not participating in the FIH Hockey Pro League and giving the winning team the option to be promoted to the FIH Hockey Pro League the next season, precisely. India (women) and South Africa (men) won the first edition of the FIH Hockey Nations Cup in 2022. #FIHNationsCup #HockeyEquals #HockeyInvites 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.

            Dazzling Dutch women crowned inaugural FIH Hockey5s World Champions

              27 January 2024 Lausanne, Switzerland: The Netherlands produced a clinical performance to beat India and claim the inaugural title as the women’s tournament at the FIH Hockey5s World Cup came to an end in Muscat, Oman on Saturday. In doing so the seemingly invincible Oranje added yet another trophy to their incredible collection which includes Olympic gold, world senior and junior titles, Indoor World Cup gold and the FIH Hockey Pro League title. Earlier in the day, Poland secured the bronze medal with a victory over South Africa while in the newly introduced Challenger Trophy, for the teams that didn’t make it through to the quarter-finals, it was the USA who prevailed to claim the title by defeating Namibia. Here is how the final pulsating day of action went down… A devastating first-half performance made all the difference for the Netherlands in their 7-2 victory over India in the final. The Dutch took the field without Noor de Baat, their captain and eventual player of the tournament, whose knee injury in the semi-final ruled her out of the final, but this only seemed to serve as extra motivation for her team. They scored early goals for the first time in the tournament, surging to a 2-0 lead in just four minutes and going into the break 6-0 up. India were much better in the second half and won that period 2-1, but there was simply no coming back from the earlier damage. Bente van der Veldt scored two of the Netherlands’ seven goals in the final to take her personal tally to 15, the second highest of the tournament.   Janneke van de Venne took a moment to reflect on the Dutch success: “We feel great as a team, we worked hard for this and we’re very proud that we did it today. It was such a tough journey but proud that we are here now. It’s really nice to play against all these countries, you play against countries you never play, so it’s really great to do this and to participate at the World [Cup].” In the bronze medal match, Poland impressed with their good structure to claim a 4-2 win against South Africa, who seemed to have run out of ideas and energy. Amelia Katerla scored all four goals for Poland and was ecstatic with their third-place finish at the tournament: “Great, that was our goal so we did it, we won it, so we are very happy. It is a huge success because we are more focused on Hockey5s and indoor at this moment, and it’s a small group which is participating in hockey anyway so it’s difficult for us to promote for example to Olympic Games or the bigger tournaments, that’s why these tournaments mean a lot to us.” Uruguay put in a devastating second half to run away 8-4 winners against Malaysia in the 5th-place playoff. The match got off to a blistering start, Uruguay going 2-0 up inside three minutes, Malaysia drawing level three minutes later, and the South Americans reclaiming the lead to go into the break leading 3-2. Teresa Viana put Malaysia to the sword in the second half, bagging six goals in the match and finishing the tournament as the top scorer with 19 in total. Ukraine were too good in their comfortable 6-0 win over New Zealand for 7th place, Karyna Leonova picking up another four goals to end the tournament with 10. Challenger Trophy  The USA were completely dominant in the Challenger Trophy playoff for 9th place, but they only managed a 2-0 victory due to yet another goalkeeping masterclass from Namibia’s excellent Petro Stoffberg. Abigail Burnett reflected on the USA’s performance at the World Cup: “I’m really excited that we won, it shows our determination as a team and our energy to keep fighting. We had a really hard pool, but I think we fought through it and I think back home it shows that we can compete here and that, even though we’re playing for the Challenger Trophy instead of the big trophy, we still worked hard.” Australia secured 11th place with an 8-3 win over Fiji with Madeline Dooley completing a hat-trick while Thailand claimed 13th spot with a 5-3 win over Paraguay. Carol Nakombe chalked up an impressive six goals and Loveness Mudenda added a hat-trick as Zambia crushed hosts Oman 11-3 to secure 15th spot.   Tournament awards: Gold medallists: NETHERLANDS Silver medallists: INDIA Bronze medallists: POLAND Runners-up of the Women’s Challenger Trophy: NAMIBIA Winners of the Women’s Challenger Trophy: USA Best Goalkeeper: Marta Kucharska (POL) Best Junior Player: Deepika Soreng (IND) Top Scorer (19): Teresa Viana (URU) Best Player: Noor De Baat (NED)   FIH Hockey5s World Cup, Oman – 27 January Result: Match 41 (W) Zambia 11 – 3 Oman Result: Match 42 (W) Thailand 5 – 3 Paraguay Result: Match 43 (W) Fiji 3 – 8 Australia Result: Match 44 (W) Namibia 0 – 2 USA Result: Match 45 (W) Ukraine 6 – 0 New Zealand Result: Match 46 (W) Uruguay 8 – 4 Malaysia Result: Match 47 (W) Poland 4 – 2 South Africa Result: Match 48 (W) Netherlands 7 – 2 India   Final positions: Netherland,  India, Poland, South Africa, Uruguay, Malaysia, Ukraine, New Zealand, United States, Namibia, Australia,  Fiji, Thailand, Paraguay, Zambia, Oman #Hockey5s #HockeyEquals #HockeyInvites 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.

              National Associations Summit talks strategy, digital and more!

                27 January 2024 Lausanne, Switzerland: Upon the initiative of FIH President Tayyab Ikram, the second National Associations Summit took place today in Muscat, Oman, on the occasion of the first ever FIH Hockey5s World Cup! Around 35 National Associations were represented and discussed key strategic matters for the continued development of hockey worldwide. The FIH President opened the session by saying: “I made it clear right from the start of my mandate, that hockey stakeholders, in particular FIH, Continental Federations and National Associations, need to meet in person on a regular basis. This is absolutely crucial in order to understand each other, ‘feel’ each other and grow our sport together!” A central agenda item was the future strategy of FIH. Led under the banner “FIH Next Chapter: Innovate to Elevate”, this session focussed on topics such as empowerment and engagement of National Associations, exposure of the sport and understanding of the rules of hockey. As an example, Hockey Australia Vice President Pat Hall explained how Hockey Australia developed a strategy to grow hockey in the country towards the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. Another major topic was digitalisation, with a presentation titled “FIH Digital Power Play: Navigating the Digital Revolution” given by Dutch Hockey Association (KNHB) President Erik Klein Nagelvoort. Whilst hockey has embraced digital for a number of years, the potential ahead remains huge, especially when it comes to the use of data for monetisation. For this, the global hockey community has to work as one … “One Hockey”! President Ikram reported about his FIH activities and interactions, not only with Continental Federations and National Associations but also the IOC and the Olympic Movement at large, that are so important partners for hockey. The FIH Finances were presented to all session participants with full transparency. The FIH audited accounts are available here. With FIH taking its sustainability footprint very seriously, FIH’s global partner. Polytan gave an update on the latest development of non-watered turf – that is being used for the first time in an FIH event at the current FIH Hockey5s World Cup – and the Paris GT Zero turf – hockey’s first carbon zero turf – that will be in place at the upcoming Olympics. Furthermore, a detailed update on the activities of the Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee was given by the Chair of the Committee, Marijke Fleuren. Further information was shared about the FIH Centenary, the Olympic Games Paris 2024, Watch.Hockey and broadcast and commercial matters. “Similar to the previous National Association Summit, I’m really delighted with the level of information that has been shared, the constructive atmosphere that has prevailed and the unity that was shown during this event. Discussions were so insightful! I’m more than ever convinced that such interactions are extremely beneficial for our development, and that there is a strong determination from all hockey stakeholders to not only grow, but grow together”, the FIH President concluded. #HockeyInvites #HockeyEquals 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.

                With its first ever Hockey5s World Cup, FIH opens a new era for hockey’s development

                  04 January, 2024 The FIH Hockey5s World Cup Oman 2024 begins on 24 January. With new competing nations and a format never associated with a World Cup so far, the event ushers in a new era for international hockey. The inaugural edition of the Hockey5s World Cup will see participation from across the globe with 16 men’s and 16 women’s teams, from across 5 continents, competing for the title of the first ever Hockey5s World Champions. Muscat will provide a picturesque backdrop as the women’s competition will begin the proceedings, starting from 24 January, with the finals to be played on 27 January. The men’s competition will begin right after, starting on 28 January, with the medal matches slated for 31 January. The teams were all placed into their respective pools during the draw ceremony, held on 3 September 2023: Women: Pool A: Fiji, Malaysia, Netherlands, Oman Pool B: Australia, South Africa, Ukraine, Zambia Pool C: India, Namibia, Poland, United States Pool D: New Zealand, Paraguay, Thailand, Uruguay Men: Pool A: Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland Pool B: Egypt, India, Jamaica, Switzerland Pool C: Australia, Kenya, New Zealand, Trinidad & Tobago Pool D: Fiji, Malaysia, Oman, United States At the end of the pool stage, the two top teams in each pool will proceed to the quarterfinals and stay in the hunt for the title of the first ever Hockey5s World Champions. The bottom two teams however will play for the new ‘Challenger Trophy’ introduced upon an initiative from FIH President Tayyab Ikram, as a sign of encouragement for all teams. With six nations playing their first ever FIH World Cup – Fiji, Jamaica, Oman, Paraguay, Thailand, Zambia -, the additional silverware will keep all 16 teams in the hunt for success, even if they can’t make it into the quarterfinals of the event. The FIH Hockey5s World Cup will begin on 24 January at 08:00 local time, as Australia take on Ukraine in the opening encounter of the women’s competition. There will be 15 more matches from the Women’s World Cup on opening day, as all 16 teams will play two of their pool matches on day 1. All information about the event, including teams, schedule, ticketing or venue, can be found here. All matches from the FIH Hockey5s World Cup Oman 2024 will be streamed live (and available on-demand) on the Watch.Hockey app*. Fans can purchase the FIH+ Pass on Watch.Hockey to have access to all matches*. *except on the Indian subcontinent Source: fih.hockey