The SPAR South African Indoor Hockey side continued their historic run at the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup on Friday night as a capacity crowd watched them defeat Belgium 2-1 to secure the first World Cup semi-final for any African nation. South Africa began the day by celebrating Jess Lardant reaching the milestone of 50 games for the country. SPAR South Africa had built their run in the tournament on the back of gritty defensive stability, arguably being the strongest defensive outfit at the tournament. But they came out firing in the early exchanges and may have taken an early lead had Kayla de Waal not fired it narrowly wide. The hosts were on top and the goal came through their fantastic captain. The African’s won a penalty corner, took it from the reverse side and produced a sensational strike from the skipper to open the scoring. Kayla de Waal had a couple of chances but the goal would eventually come from the stick of tournament star Tegan Fourie. The ball was passed through every player on the court and eventually a reverse pass by Jess Lardant opened the defence up. It connected with Tegan Fourie, who took the space on offer and fired home. At the half time break the South Africans were good value for a 2-0 lead. In the third quarter South Africa looked more likely to add to the scoring as Jamie Southgate fired in a shot from an acute angle and Tegan Fourie saw her shot trickle wide. The South Africans continued to defend like the Trojan army as the third quarter ended with Belgium still having only two shots at goal The Belgians would be given a lifeline when they played a superb through ball picked up the striker and a sensational touch diverted it past Cheree Greyvenstein to silence the crowd and give the visitors belief. But as had been the case for most teams in the tournament, they found it incredibly tough to break down the South Africans. Even pulling their keeper off to launch an all out attack didn’t not create the outcomes they were hoping for and South Africa sealed a famous win. The South Africans will next play Netherlands in the semi-final on Saturday afternoon before a potential final awaits later on the same day.   Congratulations to Jessica Lardant who today earns her 50th cap for the SPAR South Africa Womens Indoor Hockey Team #IHWC2023 pic.twitter.com/2MB2bRsIsV — SA Hockey (@SA_Hockey) February 10, 2023   Source: SAHockey.co.za | February 10, 2023

The South Afircan Indoor Hockey Men had already achieved their best ever finish at an FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup by securing a Quarter Final spot. They however had loftier ambitions and took to the court in an attempt to emulate their female compatriots in qualifying for the Semi-Finals. The Dutch though, heavily favoured, would have their own ideas and would produce a devastating and dominant Dutch first half to lead 5-0 at the half time break. They opened the scoring through captain Burkhart who fired past van Loggerenberg on the second attempt. Goals were added by a whipping finish from Wiegert Schut, a Joep Troost wonder goal and Bakker before Burkhart made it 5-0. The South Africans however showed characteristic fight and pushed forward from the back pulling a goal back through Chad Futcher. The South Africans removed their keeper and almost immediately found a second through Dayaan Casseim with a powerful reverse stick finish. The Netherlands feeling outnumbered decided to remove their keeper and match the South Africans and it added to the spectacle. South Africa won a stroke when Cassiem’s shot was saved on the line and Mustapha stood up confident to score from the stroke. Instead the best stroke save of the tournament was made low to deny the South African top scorer. He wouldn’t be denied for long as he showed tenacity to find a second and the stadium started almost literally rocking under the vibrance of the crowd. But unfortunately as time ran out the Dutch added a final goal and the South African men bid farewell to a tournament in which they played a massive part in the lasting impact of the tournament. For Netherlands the dream of repeating the 2015 success continues to live and breath as they Orange Army will next take on USA in the semi-finals.   Source: SAHockey.co.za | February 10, 2023

The quarterfinal lineup was completed after several scintillating performances on the final day of pool matches at the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup in Pretoria, South Africa. The men’s Pool B clash between the Czech Republic and Iran produced a 16-goal thriller. The Czechs led 6-3 by the 25th minute but the feisty Iranians came back at them. Just like they had done against South Africa the day before, a final-minute goal clinched a dramatic, last-gasp draw for Iran. The 8-8 draw was enough to see the Iranians through to the quarterfinals, but there was disappointment for the fourth-ranked Czech Republic who are now left to fight it out for the minor places. The other Pool B battle, between South Africa and Argentina, was another entertaining, high-scoring affair, which saw the hosts snatching a 5-4 win with another Mustapha Cassiem goal in the final minute. “It was our goal at the start [to make it into the quarterfinals]… it means everything,” said a thrilled South African captain, Jethro Eustice. “It was emotionally and physically demanding, everything that needed to be put in was in there today. I think that was probably the turning point in the last minute, that we all looked at each other and said all we need is one chance and one chance we got and we took it. It’s emotional and exciting at the same time.” Despite the loss, Argentina are also through to the quarterfinals thanks to their earlier victories over Iran and Australia. In the other men’s pool it was Namibia who booked the final top-four spot despite a 4-4 draw with New Zealand. “I’m a bit disappointed we let them back into the game there, but at least we’re in the quarters,” said Namibian coach Trevor Cormack afterwards. “Now the tournament starts all over again so we’ve got to focus on that and we’ll give our best again.” Austria, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic had already secured their quarterfinal places before the final pool matches of the women’s tournament but the other spots were yet to be determined. There was double joy for the home crowd when the South African women claimed their second victory of the tournament, beating New Zealand 6-3 to qualify for the top eight. “It’s an amazing achievement, the highest we have finished in a tournament like this,” said South African captain Jess O’Connor.” We know we have a tough one tomorrow, so we will get some rest now and then try to focus on keeping the winning momentum.” Australia went down 2-4 to Austria in their final pool match, but still progressed thanks to their earlier victories against the USA and New Zealand. In Pool B, it was Belgium, Ukraine and Canada who joined the already-qualified Czech Republic in the quarterfinals. Belgium defeated Canada 1-0 thanks to a third-quarter goal from Claire Barry, and the Canadians then faced an anxious wait for the outcome of the final pool clash between Ukraine and Kazakhstan to discover whether they’d done enough to progress. That match ended in a 3-3 draw, with one point not enough to see the Kazakhs through ahead of Canada. Belgian captain Laurine Delforge said: “We came here as one of the lowest-ranked teams and we had one goal and that was to get out of the pool stage. Today we managed to secure the point that we needed to go through. It’s only our second World Cup… and to manage to qualify for the quarterfinals really means a lot to us but also for our country and for indoor sports in Belgium.” Canadian coach Shankar Premakanthan was particularly proud of his team’s performance, having finished the group stages with one loss, one win and three draws. “We have a very young team at this tournament and I’m so proud of what they’ve accomplished,” he said. “We were a hair away from getting a result in this one and we’ve been in every single match in this tournament so far. So I’m disappointed with this result but I’m super-proud of the effort and the progress this group has made… how we’ve played is tremendous. I think we grew with every game.” Friday’s men’s quarterfinal clashes will see Belgium facing Iran while defending world champions Austria are up against Argentina, the USA take on Namibia, and the Netherlands play South Africa. In the women’s tournament, the Czech Republic face Australia, Austria take on Ukraine, Belgium play South Africa and the Netherlands are up against Canada in a bid to reach Saturday’s semifinals. 9 February 2023 Results   Result: Match 25 – women Netherlands 3 – 2 USA Player of the match: Elizabeth Tamburro (USA) Umpires: Ornpimol Kittiteerasopon (THA), Cathy Wright (WAL) Result: Match 25 – men South Africa 6 – 5 Argentina Player of the match: Chad Futcher (RSA) Umpires: Adam Barry (AUS), Sean Edwards (ENG)   Result: Match 26 – women South Africa 6 – 3 New Zealand Player of the match: Daniela de Oliveira (RSA) Umpires: Sophie Bockelmann (GER), Rachel Williams (ENG   Result: Match 26 – men USA 4 – 2 Australia Player of the match: Stuart Kentwell (USA) Umpires: Lee Barron (ENG), Ayden Shrives (RSA) Result: Match 27 – women Australia 2 – 4 Austria Player of the match: Katharina Bauer (AUT) Umpires: Lyndal Robertson (RSA), Cathy Wright (WAL) Result: Match 27 – men Czech Republic 8 – 8 Iran Player of the match: Tomas Prochazka (CZE) Umpires: Diego Barbas (ARG), Rachel Williams (ENG) Result: Match 28 – women Belgium 1 – 0 Canada Player of the match: Claire Barry (BEL) Umpires: Lukasz Zwierzchowski (POL), Ornpimol Kittiteerasopon (THA) Result: Match 28 – men Belgium 1 – 7 Netherlands Player of the match: Boris Burkhardt (NED) Umpires: Lee Barron (ENG), Adam Barry (AUS) Result: Match 29 – women Namibia 0 – 6 Czech Republic Player of the match: Anna Vorlova (CZE) Umpires: Lyndal Robertson (RSA), Sean Edwards (ENG) Result: Match 29 – men Austria 9 – 2 Kazakhstan Player of the match: Michael

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A defensive masterclass from the SPAR South African ladies in their pool game against Australia at the FIH Hockey Indoor World Cup on Wednesday set up an easy scenario on Thursday morning. Defeat New Zealand and qualify for the Quarter-Finals. Spurred on by a crowd awash with school kids from the Tshwane region, the South Africans looked to break down a stubborn New Zealand defense and they eventually managed to do so when Tegan Fourie converted her third of the tournament just before the half time hooter. In the third quarter the South Africans raised the tempo and pulled the game out of the New Zealand reach as Danny de Oliviera, Jess O’Connor and Jess Lardant all fired home from penalty corners pulling the South Africans forward. South Africa saw their lead cut down by 1 when Deanna Richie fired low and hard past Nepo Serage, but Laiken Brisset stretched the lead back to 4 when she converted on the end of a Robyn Johnson pass for her first international goal. New Zealand showed a mini-fightback to net twice. Once from Norman at a penalty corner before an opportunistic strike from Ritchie raised heart rates in the arena slightly. But there was no worry for the South Africans as Kayla de Waal as she fired in a rebound high and celebrated with relief as much as joy. South Africa has now secured their first ever Quarter Final place at the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup and will await eagerly the outcome of who their opponent will be on Friday Night at Heartfelt Arena.   Source: SAHockey.co.za