The South African U21 Men and Women began their journey to qualify for the FIH Hockey Junior World Cups in December in Ismailia in Egypt on Sunday. Both teams opened their campaigns against Southern African neighbors Zimbabwe.
The SA Under 21 Women were looking to continue on the brilliance of the team that finished 7th the 2022 Junior World Cup, facing off against fellow World cup participants Zimbabwe. An exciting opening for both teams but it was largely one way traffic. South Africa won 11 penalty corners to zero for the Zimbabweans, but the South Africans failed to convert any of the 11.
Their dominance would count though with field goals by Tamlyn Kock, Mikkela le Roux and internationally capped Ntsopa Mokoena. A 3-0 victory would settle the nerves but with room for improvement there is great excitement for the team in the remainder of the tournament.
#JAC2023 pic.twitter.com/wFhZU531aH
— African Hockey Federation (AfHF) (@AfrHockey) March 12, 2023
The SA U21 Men saw debutant James Flint bag a hat-trick of penalty corners, reminiscent of what he did to Namibia U18 little under a year ago. There were also goals from Viwe Mbata (A thumping finish into the bottom left), Calvin Davis and Tebogo Maseko as they galloped to a 6-0 victory.
#JAC2023 pic.twitter.com/OyQ6WAAKIU
— African Hockey Federation (AfHF) (@AfrHockey) March 12, 2023
On Monday, the South African women will take on the Kenyan Women, while the SA Men play the much-anticipated derby battle with Egypt.
All games can be seen live on the Egypt Hockey Facebook page here https://web.facebook.com/watch/egyhockey2013/
