SAHA

MATCH 2
KZN Raiders vs Southern Gauteng
06 August 2007
Jonathan Cook

Southern Gauteng got their National Men's IPT off to a great start with a 5-2 win over defending champs the KZN Raiders.

Leading 2-0 at half-time, Southerns took the score to 5-0 before the Raiders pulled two goals back in the last 10 minutes.

MATCH 1
Western Province vs Eastern Province
06 August 2007
Jonathan Cook

Last year's finalists Western Province for their IPT off to a great start with a 5-0 win over Eastern Province in the A Section.

WP's territorial and possession dominance earned them 13 penalty corners to EP's one; while their superior skills, control and first touch saw them string together seven passes up one flank and then down the other before entering the circle.

FIXTURES
MEN’S IPT
6 – 11 August 2007
VENUE: EAST LONDON

 CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT 2007

COMPETING TEAMS
Eastern Province (EP)
Kwazulu Natal (KZN)
KZN Midlands (MID)
Northerns Blues (NOR)
Southern Gauteng (SG)
Western Province (WP)

Time Team 1 Team 2 Venue  

Congratulations to Eric Rose-Innes for achieving his 100th test cap against Egypt in the African Olympic Qualifier Final on Sunday 22nd July 2007.

Eric’s is currently the Vice-Captain and a fantastic player who has become a valuable asset to the South African Men’s hockey team.

The 26 year old from Stellenbosch has represented South Africa at the World Cup, Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, Africa Cup and Champions Challenge.

Congratulations to both Zain McLaren and Michelle Joubert for flying the Umpires flag high at the African Olympic Qualifier.

Both umpires were graded and have received the following new gradings:

Zain McLaren:  Outdoor Grade 1 International Umpire

Michelle Joubert:  International Outdoor Umpire and promoted onto the "Outdoor Promising Umpires List"

Olympic qualifying tournament, Nairobi

Men

South Africa 2 Egypt 1

Women

South Africa 5 Kenya 0

Both the SA men's and SPAR women's teams qualify for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing by winning their sections in the All Africa Games.

The SA Men and Ladies will be contesting the African Olympic Qualifier Finals on Sunday.

The Men will be facing arch rivals Egypt whilst the Spar Ladies will face Kenya.

The Spar SA Ladies had a convincing 9-0 win over the Kenyans in their last pool match today to gain the mental dominance over their opponents before Sunday's final.

The SA Men beat Kenya 2-0 in a tough encounter which SA had to win in order to qualify for Sunday's final.

Good luck to the two teams for their respective finals. Do us proud and qualify for the Olympics.

Congratulations to Chris Hibbert for achieving his 100th test cap against Egypt on Wednesday 18th July 2007.

Chris has been a fantastic ambassador for the South African Men’s team through the years and is arguably one of the finest goalkeepers in South Africa’s hockey history.

The 31 year old from Port Elizabeth has represented South Africa at the World Cup, Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, All Africa Games, Africa Cup and Champions Challenge.

Well done Chris on your fantastic achievement.

The SA Men’s hockey team came out firing today against Nigeria after their disappointing loss to Egypt yesterday. The result against Egypt meant that South Africa would have to win their two remaining fixtures against Nigeria and Kenya to make Sunday’s final against Egypt.
The match couldn’t have started better for the SA boys as Austin Smith scored two fantastic penalty corners to give them a 2-0 lead. The lead was extended further when Lloyd Norris-Jones scored a far post tip in after a fantastic pass from Bruce Jacobs. SA went into the break with a 3-0 lead.

This was a big game, a win would see us through to the top of the table, almost guaranteeing us a place in Sunday’s final, as well as helping us maintain our psychological dominance over the Egyptians.
Unfortunately things did not turn out as planned, as we eventually went down 1-0 to the Pharoahs. This is only the 2nd time we have lost to them since our re-admission in 1993.