The South African Women’s Ice Hockey team claimed gold in Division III at the recent World Championships in Bulgaria on Tuesday, returning to Division II for the first time since 2013.
South Africa were the front runners the entire tournament, alongside Romania, having only lost one of their five fixtures to Romania. It was a close call for the South African ladies, who had to rely on Belgium to beat Bulgaria to win gold. Belgium did just that and handed South Africa the top spot, winning the competition with the most points.
In their final match they beat Lithuania 4-2, ending the tournament on 12 points. Tarryn Keuler, Inge Marais and Dalene Rhode got their names on the score sheet for South Africa, with Rhode getting two. The ladies then had to wait for the conclusion of the Romania versus Belgium to learn their fate, with Romania needing to win the game in regulation-time to take all six points and win the competition with 15 points in total. Despite opening the scoring, Belgium were able to pull themselves back in it and hand Romania a 4-2 defeat.
This was South Africa’s 13th time competing at the Women’s World Championships and despite shaky finishes, coach Andre Marais has helped the ladies to five consecutive third-place finishes and two wins every year, having joined the team in 2014. Congratulations to Donne van Doesburgh who was named the best defender at the World Championships.
Photo 1 Caption: The South African Women’s Ice Hockey celebrate winning gold in Bulgaria. Photo: Eastern Province Ice Hockey Association
With editing by gsport
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