Durban: South Africa men and Namibia women have sealed their spots at the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup in Belgium next year after an intense three days of hockey competition at the Indoor Africa Cup in Durban, South Africa.
“The Indoor Africa Cup was a great success. It was amazing to see international hockey being played on African soil during these very trying times, due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” Tournament Director Sarah Bennett was quoted as saying by FIH.
“The quality of hockey was of a high standard and it was fantastic to see the growth in Botswana hockey since their last international series in 2019,” he added.
Match score-lines included a 37-0 loss by Botswana men to Namibia and a 30-0 loss for the women’s team to the eventual champions.
In the round-robin matches, South Africa men were a class apart as they scored 85 goals and conceded just seven during their five matches.
While the 36-0 against Botswana was a masterclass in taking opportunities, it was the composed performance that saw them beat Namibia 4-1 in the final that marked their cards as champions of Africa and qualifiers for the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup next year in Liege, Belgium.
The result means South Africa men and Namibia women become the 11th teams to qualify for the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup 2022, with just the PAHF competition left to decide who the 12th and final place in each competition goes to.
The 2022 FIH Men’s and Women’s Indoor Hockey World Cups are scheduled to take place from February 2-6 in Liege.