Zimbabwe women dominate hockey development series

ZIMBABWE senior women’s hockey teams put up brilliant performances on the turf during the 2023 hockey development series which was played against Zambia at the St. John’s Educational Trust (SJET) Astro Turf in Harare over the weekend.

The Zimbabwe women’s team, which featured some national Under-21 players, dominated throughout to win the series 3-0. It was however not a good outing for the men’s team as they lost their series 1-0.

Zimbabwe senior women and their neighbours played three games and the home side proved strong for the visiting Zambian side.

In the first match of the campaign, Zimbabwean women were given a run for their money as Zambia took them to the edge. Zimbabwe ended up securing a hard fought 5-4 win after a closely contested encounter.

Following the narrow win in the series opener, Zimbabwe women came back a different team in the second match, totally outplaying the Zambians. The hosts convincingly won the second encounter 3-0 to gain an unassailable 2-0 series lead.

The final match of the women’s series was yet another dominant display by Zimbabwe as they went on to register a 5-2 win and eventually a series whitewash.

The results were a good confidence booster to the team as some of its players are set to represent Zimbabwe at the 2023 Junior World Cup which will be held in Santiago, Chile at the end of the year.

It was not a good outing for the senior men’s team as they lost the series 1-0 after two matches in the proceedings ended as stalemates. The first match of the series was a 1-1 draw and in the second game, Zimbabwe proved no match for Zambia as they were thumped 3-0.

Going into the final match needing a win to level the series, things did not go according to plan for Zimbabwe as they, once again, shared the spoils following a goalless draw. The draw in the final match meant that Zambia took home the series.

This was not the first development series to take place between the two nations. Last year, the Hockey Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) and Zambia had a similar series but it focused on the Under-13, Under-16 and Under-18.

However, this year they took it a step further to include the seniors’ sides from both countries in preparation for the Road to Paris Olympic qualifiers to be held later in the year, in South Africa.

The series brought together 396 players of all age groups and played a huge part in improving the world rankings for both Zimbabwe and Zambia, providing them with the much-needed international exposure.

Day One Results:

Zimbabwe U-13 B girls 0-2 Zimbabwe U-13A girls, Zimbabwe U-13 boys 0-2 Zimbabwe U-13A boys

Zimbabwe U-18A boys 5-1 Zimbabwe U-18B boys, Zambia U-18 girls 0-2 Zimbabwe U-16B girls, Zambia U-18 boys 2-1 Zimbabwe U-16B boys, Zambia senior women 4-5 Zimbabwe senior women, Zambia U-15 girls 2-2 Zimbabwe U-13B girls, Zambia U-15 boys 3-0 Zimbabwe U-13B boys, Zimbabwe women select 1-1 Zimbabwe U-18A girls, Zimbabwe Boys Select 2-1 Zimbabwe U-18 boys

Day Two results:

Zimbabwe we U-18A girls 5-1 Zimbabwe U-18B girls, Zimbabwe U-16A boys 6-0 Zimbabwe U-16B boys, Zimbabwe U-16A 2-1 Zimbabwe U-16B girls, Zambia U-15 girls 0-2 Zimbabwe U-13A girls, Zambia U-15 boys 0-1 Zimbabwe U-13A boys, Zimbabwe senior women 4-0 Zambia senior women, Zimbabwe senior men 0-3 Zambia senior men, Zimbabwe women select 2-0 Zimbabwe U-18B girls, Zimbabwe men select 5-1 Zimbabwe U-18B boys, Zambia U-18 girls 0-2 Zimbabwe U-16A girls, Zambia U-18 boys 0-1 Zimbabwe U-16A boys

Day Three results:

Zimbabwe U-13B girls 0-4 Zimbabwe U-13B boys, Zimbabwe U-18B girls 8-1 Zambia U-18 girls, Zimbabwe U-16B 0-6 Zimbabwe U-18B boys, Zimbabwe U-13A 3-0 Zambia Under-15 girls, Zimbabwe U-13A boys 2-3 Zambia U-15 boys, Zimbabwe senior women 5-2 Zambia senior women, Zimbabwe senior men 0-0 Zambia senior men, Zimbabwe U-18A boys 3-0 Zambia U-18 boys, Zimbabwe U-16A girls 2-1 Zimbabwe U-16B girls, Zimbabwe U-18A 0-0 Zimbabwe Women’s Select, Zimbabwe U-16A 1-2 Zimbabwe Men’s Select. – @brandon_malvin