daniel chigunwe
Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S hopes of making the quarterfinals at the ongoing FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup were quashed yesterday when they were hammered 18-0 by Netherlands in Potchefstroom, South Africa.
It was their last Pool A match.
Sixteen countries are taking part in the tournament and have been divided into four Pools of four. The top two teams from each Pool advance to the quarter-finals.
Going into the match Zimbabwe were third in Pool A with three points and the defeat means they will not progress to the quarterfinals.
Coach Tendayi Maredza had earlier on conceded they were up against a tough opponent as they faced the top ranked team.
Yesterday’s match was delayed by five minutes due to a storm.
But when it took off, Zimbabwe managed to restrict Netherlands to one goal in the opening quarter.
However, it was a different story in the second quarter as Netherlands dominated scoring eight goals to go into half time leading 9-0.
As they returned for the third quarter, the match was suspended after playing one minute because of lightning and thunder. Netherlands were still leading 9-0.
When they resumed minutes later, Netherlands continued to control the game as they stretched their lead to 14-0 by the end of this quarter and they got four more goals in the last quarter.
They progress to the last eight as they finish top of Pool A with nine points.
It was always going to be difficult for Zimbabwe taking one of the top teams in the world and they can only pick some lessons from this game going forward.
Zimbabwe had a positive start in Pool A when beating Canada 2-1 in their opening game on Friday. They then lost 5-0 to the United States the following day.
They are now set to play for placings and will be hoping to take some of the lessons from their Pool to try and improve their ranking at the Junior World Cup.
In their last appearance at the tournament, which was in 2016, Zimbabwe finished bottom, on position 16.
Online Reporter