HAZ announces U-21 World Cup final squad

THE Hockey Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) has named the final women’s Under-21 squad for the 2023 International Hockey Federation (FIH) Junior World Cup that will be held in Santiago, Chile.

The travelling team is made up of 20 players, with two being reserves. There are six non-travelling reserves. The final team was trimmed from the 38 players that were named in the provisional squad.

Sxteen nations will take part in the event which starts on November 29 and end on December 10.
South Africa and Zimbabwe are Africa’s representatives.

Some of the notable names who made the final team include Khanyisile Mzizi, Chelsea Hares, Amber Tozana, Tanyaradzwa Changa and the skipper Jorja Jones.

The team began its preparations for the global showpiece last month and has been working hard to keep fit and also improve their individual skills.

Their practice sessions have been taking place in Harare and as part of their preparations, Brad Heuer’s team hosted Zimbabwe national women’s cricket team head coach, Gary Brent last week who spoke to them about how to deal with pressure at a big stage such as the World Cup.

The team booked their place to South America after securing a second-place finish in the Africa Junior Cup (AJC) which was held in Ismailia, Egypt in March.

Heuer’s charges finished with six points from a possible nine while South Africa, who topped the standings won all their three games. In their three matches at the continental showdown, Zimbabwe lost their opening encounter against South Africa 3-0 before bouncing back in the second match beating the hosts, 4-0. The team ended their campaign on a high note with a 7-0 win over Kenya.

Zimbabwe was drawn in Group B of the World Cup alongside Argentina, Korea and Spain. They will open their campaign against South Korea on November 29 before facing Spain on December 1. Their last group match will be against Argentina on December 3.

The team:
Ella Allardice, Tanyaradzwa Changa, Bethel Chidzwondo (goalkeeper), Hayley Clark, Tinodiwanashe Elijah, Tyla Falkenberg, Chelsea Hares, Jorja Jones (captain), Nicole Lowe, Tatenda Maswera, Nakai Mujaranji (vice-captain), Athina Mujiba, Tanatswa Mutaramutswa (goalkeeper), Khanyisile Mzizi, Emma Reilly, Kaylee Sithole, Amber Tozana, Rumbidzaishe Zimuto.