adminTHE Zimbabwe men’s hockey team were given a baptism of fire when South Africa drubbed them 16-0 in their opening Africa Cup of Nations match staged at Randburg Sports Club last Friday night.
Coached by Collin Williams, the Zimbabweans were no match for their more superior opponents and were 9-0 down at halftime. Williams said the defeat to South Africa was a lot more than he had anticipated. His target is now to win the next three pool matches at a tournament that is being used as a 2016 Olympic qualifier. Zimbabwe meet Namibia tomorrow, Botswana on Tuesday and then Ghana on Thursday.
“We lost 16-0, a little more than I would have thought, South Africa was very slick, my lads did well in the third quarter and ran out of legs in the fourth quarter. I wanted the boys to play and try attack and not defend so that will always give a slick team opportunity. The boys got a good lesson, however they never stopped trying,’’ said Williams.
Meanwhile, the women, coached by Eddie Chiringah have had mixed fortunes so far at the same tournament with a 9-0 win over Tanzania on Friday followed up by a 2-0 defeat to Kenya yesterday. They take on Ghana tomorrow, South Africa on Tuesday, Namibia on Thursday and Nigeria on Friday.
derick.khumalo