The Malawi Sticks, the men’s team of Malawi marked their return to International hockey in Africa with a sound 3-1 bashing of hosts Tanzania. Malawi, whose last participation in international competition was in All Africa Games hosted by South Africa in 1999, announced their strong intention to compete for honours on the continent. An almost 2 decades of absence from the international scene may have weighed heavily on Malawi hockey, but the Malawi Sticks sent a positive signal home that hockey in Malawi, if adequately supported, can win laurels for the country. Malawi started strongly but were held at bay in the first quarter by a confident Tanzanian team who were confident they would scale this first hurdle of the competition. Seven minutes into the second quarter, Malawi drew first blood with a well taken goal from open play courtesy James Bandawe. Tanzania shook off the shock and carried the game to the Malawians. The continuous raid on the goal area of Malawi yielded result with Sunny D’Souza levelling the scores for the hosts in the 28th minute to end the half. The third quarter saw a lot of action but did not register any goals. The final quarter saw a battle for dominance with play swinging from one end to the other. It was however the Malawians who went ahead through a penalty stroke converted by Daniel Matavata in the 52nd minute. Tanzania threw everything into the game to redeem a point but in the process, they slackened at the back and the Malawians capitalized on that to punish them with a third goal a minute from the end of the match with a field goal by Denollye Mgeni. Earlier in the women’s encounter, Zambia inflicted misery on the hosts Tanzania with a 3-1 victory. Zambia led 1-0 at end of the first quarter through a lovely goal by Loveness Mudenda from open play. Tanzania came back strongly to draw level from a penalty corner converted by Shakira Mtenji to end the first half. The third quarter was evenly contested with no goals registered. It was however the Zambians who run away with victory in the first of three matches scoring twice through Carol Nakombe (47th minute) from open play, and Eniless Mambwe (56th minute) from a penalty corner. Day two will feature only one men’s match with hosts Tanzania seeking to rebound from the defeat to Malawi with an emphatic win over Zambia.  

The Tournament Director and the Umpires’ Manager took turns to brief the teams and the officiating officials on the arrangements for the AfHF President’s Cup competition. The TD drew the attention to key aspects of the FIH Tournament Regulations that will guide the competition while the UM took his umpires through the salient issues to keep an eye on to ensure a free flowing game at all time to offer spectators gratifying entertainment while keeping a firm control at all times. The well mowed and manicured grass surface of the Twigas Club, looks set to withstand the anticipated pressure it will be subjected to from the upcoming battles between the nations. Meanwhile, all the teams have arrived in Arusha, settled comfortably and ready to do battle for honours. The action gets underway at 14:30Hours tomorrow (22/02/17) with the ladies’ category which will see the hosts Tanzania welcome Zambia. At 16:30Hours, the men’s competition starts with the hosts Tanzania welcoming Malawi back into African Hockey competition.

All is set for the Tanzania Hockey Association to host the first ever AfHF President’s Cup for both men and women at the Sikh Union Complex, formerly known as the Arusha Twigas Sport Club, in Arusha during the period February 22 to 26. The President’s Cup is a newly introduced competition by the AfHF and it is opened to all National Associations ranked below 7 in African Hockey according to the outdoor ranking published by the FIH. The winners of both categories will join the top 7 ranked African nations for the 2017 Edition of the AfHF Africa Cup for Nations Competition to be held in South Africa during the period August 18-27. The Local organizing Committee (LOC) has worked hard to ensure that preparations are on track to host the event which will bring together three (3) national teams made up of the hosts Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi. Tanzania Hockey has the experience in hosting international club competition, but this will be the first time it will host an international tournament at the continental level, and the LOC is confident that the decision to host the event in Arusha will further boost and promote the game in the region in particular and the country in general. Tanzania Hockey is relying on a syndication of sponsorship from various sources including corporate entities to organize this important event. The AfHF is particularly excited to have Malawi back in competition and vying for continental honors once again and is hopeful that the competition will trigger a wave of renewed interest and excitement towards hockey in National Associations in Eastern Africa. The Competition will be supervised by Ahmed Yousef of Egypt (Tournament Director) and Ediga Agbo of Nigeria (Umpires Manager) with officials drawn from the three participating nations and Kenya.