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Ellina Mhlanga Senior Sports Reporter
THE national Under-21 women’s field hockey team returns to action this afternoon when they take on Austria in the classification phase of the ongoing FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup in Potchefstroom, South Africa.
Zimbabwe and Austria clash in one of the ninth to 12th place matches. The other match for ninth place is between Ireland and Malaysia
Winners in today’s matches will then play for position nine and 10 while the losing teams will play for 11th and 12th positions.
This means Zimbabwe are guaranteed of a top 12 finish. Speaking ahead of today’s match, coach Tendayi Maredza, said they are not taking anything for granted and are hoping they can pull through so that they fight for a top 10 finish.
“Austria is a good side. We respect all our opponents so we are expecting a tough game tomorrow (today).
“We approach it the same way, make sure that we have got a tight shape, look to compress all the space, making sure that the team won’t penetrate our midfield easily and then obviously we want to utilise our chances.
“We can (win) if just play well, stick to our structure, stay disciplined and score some goals,” said Maredza.
Zimbabwe are coming from an 18-0 defeat at the hands of Pool A winners, the Netherlands. However, Maredza said they just need to refocus after a four-day break since their last match.
“Just to refocus, especially after this break. Go out there and win the game because it’s going to be important for us. If we win this game, then we play for nine and 10 (position) and we would love to finish in the top 10,” said Maredza. Austria were fourth in Pool C after winning one match. They then beat Wales 4-3 on shootouts in their first match, in the classification round on Thursday, to have a date against Zimbabwe. The match had ended 0-0 in normal game time.
Before their defeat to the Netherlands, Zimbabwe had beaten Canada 2-1 and 5-0 lost to the United States. Hockey Association of Zimbabwe secretary-general, Sarah Bennett, said they can only learn from such events.
“The ladies punched above their weight in their pool by placing third, a place above Canada, a team ranked 41 positions above Zimbabwe in the World Junior rankings.
“The ladies held their own in the first quarter of the matches against the Dutch and United States ladies.
“The victory against Canada was historical, and we are excited about the prospects our ladies teams and hockey in general have been going forward.
“The Dutch side is a top ranked team of the highest standard with access to over 450 astro turfs in their country. International exposure is key to one’s success but this is determined by financial resources.
“Our team in Potchefstroom have done us proud and we can only learn and improve from such events,” said Bennett.
The defeat to the Netherlands may also be an opportunity to reflect on areas that need improvement and ensuring local leagues are functional and vibrant from junior level.
“A number of the ladies at the World Cup play hockey regularly in the leagues. The HAZ Inter Provincial Tournament was hosted successfully last month.
“Sadly the league over the last two years has been hugely hampered by a global pandemic – Covid-19 – and all sport has been affected,” said Bennett.
Online Reporter