The South African squad enjoyed a rest day on Wednesday after having already qualified for Thursday’s women’s semi-finals at the top of Pool A at the African Hockey Road to Paris Olympic Qualifier, at the University of Pretoria in Pretoria, Tshwane, on Wednesday, 1 November, 2023.
Comfort Saturday scored both goals for Nigeria to seal their spot with a thrilling 2-1 win over Zimbabwe, her winner coming from a penalty corner with five minutes remaining.
In the day’s second fixture, Ghana hammered Zambia 7-1, Mavis Berko and Doris Antwi both grabbing a brace, but they were pushed into second place in Pool B when Kenya scraped past Namibia 1-0 with a 53rd-minute penalty corner goal by Grace Bwire.
With the group stages done, Ghana’s defender Mavis Berko leads the personal goals tally, with five converted penalty corners to her name.
With a game short in Group A’s three-team structure, South Africa’s co-captain Quanita Bobbs owns the tournament’s second-best goal scoring tally, courtesy of her hat-trick in South Africa’s opening fixture against Zimbabwe.
secure their semi-final spot on Friday against hosts South Africa. Photo: ES Media
Action on Thursday features Group A’s third-placed Zimbabwe taking on Group B’s Namibia in their quest for the tournament’s 5th to 7th-placed finishers.
South Africa and Kenya are unbeaten to remain top of their group logs after the completion of the group stages, leaving Nigeria to take on Kenya 12.30pm in the first women’s semi-final, while SA will face Group B’s second placed semi-finalist, Ghana on Friday.
Friday’s fixtures have been revised to allow the South African women’s team to play their semi-final back-to-back ahead of the SA men’s semi, with a 5pm start of the tournament hosts.
Main Photo Caption: Ghana defender Mavis Berko celebrates after her team beat Zambia 7-1 on Monday at the African Hockey Road To Paris being played at the University of Pretoria in Tshwane. The win earned Ghana a women’s semi-final berth on Friday against hosts South Africa. Photo: ES Media
Photo 2 Caption: Ghanian midfielder- Lydia Afriyie in action against Zambia on Wednesday. Ghana thrashed Zambia 7-1 to secure a women’s semi-final spot on Friday against hosts South Africa. Photo: ES Media
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