Pretoria, Tshwane, South Africa: A capacity crowd in Pretoria saw the South African Hockey Women secure themselves a place at the Paris Olympics with a resounding victory over Nigeria, themselves playing in their first ever African Hockey tournament final.
South Africa got the match off to a perfect start as Tarryn Lombard deflected home a Bobbs penalty corner. Lombard doubled both her and the teams tally with a deflection from a Zulu shot and South Africa led at the first interval 2-0.
The second quarter saw the hosts ramp home their dominance as Quanita Bobbs smashed home on the reverse after good work from Thati Zulu and Jean-Leigh du Toit sent a corner into the roof of the net. Bianca Wood finished after good work from Kristen Paton before Taheera Augousti scored a similar strike to Bobbs to make it 6-0 at the half time interval.
A further two goals were added in the third quarter. Tarryn Lombard scored her hat-trick deflection before Paris-Gail Isaacs scored her first international goal. It was merely a formality until the South Africans were confirmed as champions of the qualifier.
The final quarter saw Kristen Paton score South Africa’s ninth goal and wrap up the victory for the South Africans by a score of 9-0.
Player of the match in the final Tarryn Lombard was delighted with her role in the victory:
“Scoring a goal in the final is stuff of dreams, let alone a hat-trick. I’m absolutely stoked with the performance. We are incredibly pleased to qualify for the Olympic Games, the hard work starts here, and I can’t wait to get started.”
Earlier Kenya secured the bronze medal with a third consecutive victory over Ghana (one in the Commonwealth Games, two here in Pretoria). Played in punishing heat, unlike their meeting earlier in the tournament. Kenya scored twice in the opening six minutes through Caroline Guchu and Naom Kemunto. Ghana pulled a goal back through the brilliant Mavis Berko to set the game up superbly. Eleanor Chebet put the game to bed with a second half strike that sealed a 3-1 victory for the East Africans and the bronze medal.
Ghana will at least take one bronze medal back as they emerged victorious in the men’s bronze medal match. It was a game that was truly filled with one way traffic from the start as Ghana put Uganda to the sword. Francis Tettey ended his tournament with a hat-trick that was accompanied by goals from Benjamin Kwoffie, Johnny Botsio, Michael Baiden and Ernest Opoku. Uganda earned a consolation goal through Colline Batusa but the celebration belonged to Ghana.
ENDS
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS WILL FOLLOW WITH THE UPDATED PRESS RELEASE POST THE MEN’S FINAL AS WELL AS FINAL STANDINGS FOR BOTH TOURNAMENTS.
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Quanita Bobbs Captain SA Women’s Team- English
Giles Bonnet Head Coach SA Women’s Hockey Team- English
Antonet Louw SA Women’s Hockey player- Afrikaans
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Captions:
ANTONET LOUW: South African midfielder Antonet Louw passes the ball against Nigeria in Sunday’s women final of the African Hockey Road To Paris played at the University of Pretoria in Tshwane. The South Africa’s dominated Nigeria 9-0 to secure their ticket to the Paris Olympics in 2024.
QUANITA BOBBS AND IVEREN AGEKWE: South African women’s hockey captain Quanita Bobbs dribbles her Nigerian opponent Iveren Agekwe in Sunday’s final of the African Hockey Road To Paris played at the University of Pretoria in Tshwane. The South Africa’s dominated Nigeria 9-0 to secure a guaranteed spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
ONTHATILE ZULU STRIKER: South African women’s hockey striker Onthatile Zulu tumbles whilst taking a reverse stick shot in Sunday’s final against Nigeria in the African Hockey Road To Paris played at the University of Pretoria in Tshwane. The South Africa’s dominated Nigeria 9-0 to secure a guaranteed spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
SA WOMEN’S HOCKEY TEAM: Bianca Woods the South African women’s hockey leads her team’s celebrations after Sunday’s final against Nigeria in the African Hockey Road To Paris played at the University of Pretoria in Tshwane. The South Africa’s dominated Nigeria 9-0 to secure a guaranteed spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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This media release was sent out on behalf of the South African Hockey Association by BLD Communications.