dyton mupawaenda
Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S senior men hockey team claimed their first victory at the ongoing African Hockey Road to Paris 2024 Qualifiers when beating Uganda 2-1 yesterday in Pretoria, South Africa.
The victory came after a heavy defeat to hosts South Africa in their Pool A opening match on Sunday when they lost 10-0.
It was a bad day for the Zimbabwean teams as the women’s side also lost with the same score line against South Africa in Pool A on Sunday.
However, the men’s side managed to win yesterday’s game with their goals coming from Mutsawashe Kanyangarara and Tadiwanashe Kamusewu.
Zimbabwe took the lead in the 24th minute, through Kanyangarara. However, Uganda’s Colline Batusa levelled the score two minutes later to go into the break tied 1-1.
On their return from the break, Zimbabwe kept pushing and it paid off with Kamusewu weighing in with a goal in the last quarter to give Zimbabwe a 2-1 victory.
They take on Nigeria this afternoon hoping for a win, if they are to stand a chance to progress to the semi-finals.
The women’s side had a break yesterday and are back in action this morning when they take on Nigeria in their last Pool A games.
Speaking on their defeat to South Africa women’s team coach Bhavik Chauhan conceded they lost to a good side against South Africa.
“Last night’s (Sunday) game was extremely tough. South Africa are the best in Africa and we learnt a lot from this game.
“The players fought extremely well. We worked hard to try and control the game. Unfortunately, South Africa were too strong for us.
“There are a number of factors that contributed to the loss. As a team we didn’t play the hockey we know how to play and South Africa countered our every move.
“Our preparation for the Nigeria game are on track. We learnt from last night’s game and will use this experience to be better.
“Our target is to reach the semi-finals. We will do our best to achieve this target,” Chauhan.
The top two teams in each Pool will progress to the semi-finals, while the rest of the teams compete in position classification matches.
The winners of the tournament from each category secure their place at the Olympic Games.
The team that finishes as the runner-up in the men’s competition will get a second opportunity to qualify for the Olympics at the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2024.
Online Reporter