The South African Hockey Men would have felt inspired by the performances of their countrymen the Springboks, Proteas and Brad Binder ahead of the tournament opener against Zimbabwe at the African Hockey Road to Paris 2024 Qualifier.
And the Hockey men showed the same South African spirit from the start taking only 8 minutes to score through influential skipper Dayaan Cassiem. Zimbabwe showed good tenacity to hold the South Africans at bay, but Matthew Guise-Brown playing his first game since the Commonwealth Games finally broke the resistance with a fine penalty corner strike.
That goal brought a sudden flow for the South Africans as Bili Ntuli netted his first and Guise-Brown his second to give the hosts a four-goal lead. Mustapha Cassiem finished superbly just before the half-time break and the South Africans led 5-0 at the break.
There was no respite for the Zimbabweans as Guise Brown finished another cracking penalty corner and Bili Ntuli scored his second. Jacque van Tonder made it 8-0 when his penalty corner cracked in off the post.
Bili Ntuli scored arguably the game’s best goal after a sublime team movement to complete his hat-trick. But despite cheers for the 9 goals so far, the largest cheer came in the last minute of the game when Langa’s Zenani Kraai found his first international goal, much to the overjoyed celebration of his team.
A perfect opening performance for the South African Men wrapping up a wonderful sporting weekend for South Africa.
African Hockey Road to Paris 2024 Qualifiers (M) – Day 1 Results
Pool A – Egypt 2-0 Kenya
Pool A – Ghana 3-1 Zambia
Pool B – South Africa 10-0 Zimbabwe
Pool B – Nigeria 0-5 Uganda
African Hockey Road to Paris 2024 Qualifiers (M) – Day 2 Fixtures
10:00 – Pool B – Kenya vs. Zambia
12:00 – Pool B – Ghana vs. Egypt
16:00 – Pool A – Zimbabwe vs. Uganda
20:00 – Pool A – South Africa vs. Nigeria
