Black Sticks qualify for semis

The national men’s hockey team yesterday played an improved game to beat Zimbabwe 4-2 and qualify for the semi-finals of the ongoing African Hockey Championships in South Africa.

The team will meet Egypt tomorrow to determine which side qualifies to the final.

Earlier last Tuesday, the Black Sticks suffered a 0-4 defeat to South Africa, putting brakes to their winning spree since the tournament started almost a week ago.

Describing their defeat to South Africa as unfortunate, an executive member of the Ghana Hockey Association, Madam Elizabeth Safoah King, told the Daily Graphic in a telephone interview that following the defeat, the players decided to play above themselves in their game against Zimbabwe and therefore succeeded in achieving a positive result.

“Our loss to South Africa was very unfortunate because we played very well but made vital mistakes that cost us dearly, thus contributing to our defeat,” she explained.

Before succumbing to South Africa, Ghana’s men’s team had defeated Namibia 5-0 and whitewashed Botswana 27-0, thus boosting their confidence .

According to madam King, the women’s team, which excelled in their previous game by defeating Nigeria, Namibia and Zimbabwe 2-1, 1-0 and 4-0 respectively, will play Kenya today.

“Our match against Kenya is dicey because they are very good, but we will play above ourselves to enable us to beat them and book a place in the next stage of the competition,” she assured.