Indoor Women’s Hockey Start Tuanku Zara Cup with Two Big Wins in Malaysia

The South Africa Indoor Women’s hockey team off to a flying start at the Tuanku Zara Cup in Ipoh, Perak in Malaysia, with a narrow 302 win over Malaysia before an 8-0 thrashing of New Zealand when the tournament kicked off on Tuesday 7 November, 2023. 

South Africa’ inexperience showed in the the opening exchanges of their first fixture, but it wasn’t long before Malika Hamza got her first international goal. South Africa then doubled the lead after a slight deflection from Kelsey Swanepoel saw the ball in to the back of the net.

Malaysia Stage a Come Back

Malaysia managed to pull one back to make the 2-1 at the break. Teagan Fourie increased South Africa’s lead when she scored her 56th international goal as Malaysia scored a late goal but it wasn’t enough to get past South Africa as the game ended 3-2. 

South Africa then turned on the heat in their afternoon fixture when they faced New Zealand. 

SA managed to click from the get go, which saw them score two goals in the first two quarters as Cailynn Bakker went on to score her debut international goal, and goals from Emily Macquet and Teagan Fourie saw South Africa take 4-0 lead into half time. 

Hamza’s good form continued as she scored a brace, which helped her team to secure a comprehensive 8-0 victory.

The match that featured seven debutants in Hamza, Bakker, Kelsey Swanepoel, Bonolo Moabi, Sarah Paget, Gabriella Terblanche and Macquet. Jamie Southgate also captained the team for the first time.

South Africa currently top the standings, on Thursday the 9 November they take on neighbours Namibia at 3:30 AM (SA time) and then Australia at 10am (SA time), and then the final fixtures will take place on Saturday. 

The South Africa Indoor Women’s hockey team off to a flying start at the Tuanku Zara Cup in Ipoh, Perak in Malaysia when the event kicked off on Tuesday, 7 November 2023. South Africa’s Teagan Fourie scored twice against New Zealand after the all-important winner against hosts Malaysia in their opening fixture. File Photo: Teagan Fourie on Instagram: