The tenth edition of the FIH Hockey Womens Junior World Cup takes place in Santiago in Chile from 29 November to 10 December 2023. Today the Pools and schedules were announced in a launch event today at the headquarters of the Chilean Olympic Committee.
The South African Hockey Junior Women, buoyed by a seventh placed finish at the home hosted event in 2022, have been placed in Pool A of the tournament and will face off against the defending champions Netherlands, Oceania Cup champions Australia and the hosts Chile in a group that promises to be incredibly tight.
The South Africans will be hoping to capitalize on opening game nerves when they play the hosts Chile in the final game of day one. Less than 24 hours later Lenise Marais’ squad will be tasked with taking on the most successful team in the history of the tournament in the Dutch. They will close out the pool stages with a battle against Australia with the hopes of getting into the top 8 once again.
Head Coach Lenise Marais shared her thoughts on the draw:
“We are constantly looking to test ourselves against the best teams in the world. As we did in the Quarter-Finals in 2022, we look forward to playing Netherlands once again, while Australia are a team with such great pedigree. We know how special it is to host the tournament and Chile will undoubtedly play with an extra spring in their step with home crowd support.
We look forward to the challenge of the tournament and proudly representing our country!”
This will be the South Africans eighth consecutive tournament with a best finish of 6th place back in 1997 and 2001 with a 7th placed finish at the most recent tournament in Potchefstroom in 2022.
For more information on the FIH Hockey Womens Junior World Cup visit the tournament website here
