Africa Hockey Champs has Varsity flavour

The Africa Hockey Championships is set to get underway on Friday, October 23 at the Randburg astro in Johannesburg, with the National men’s and ladies sides sprinkled with some Varsity Hockey flavour.

The prize for the respective tournament winners is qualification for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Both the men’s and ladies teams consist of 18 players. The men’s side features six players who participated in the 2014 Varsity Hockey competition, while there are 10 ladies who played in the 2013 and 2015 competitions, respectively.

The biggest representation across all varsities, in both sides, are UJ, UFS-Kovsies and Maties – who boats three players each. Brandon Panther, who was part of the champion UJ side in 2014, Bernie Coston (2013) and Lilian du Plessis (2015 champions) played for the Johannesburg students while Tanya Britz, Nicole Walraven and Cornelle Botha all represented UFS-Kovsies.

Daniel Bell and Dylan Swanepoel were part of the 2014 Maties side while Illse Davids played in 2013 before taking up an assistant coach position in 2015 with the Maroon Machine.

NWU-Pukke and UP-Tuks have two representatives each – Anelle van Deventer and Celia Evans played for the Potchefstroom outfit in 2015 – while Matt Guise-Brown and Richard Pautz was part of the 2014 Tuks side.

Toni Marks (Wits), Candice Manuel (UCT 2013) and Ignatius Malgraff (NMMU-Madibaz 2014) make up the remaining Varsity Hockey representatives in the respective teams.

In the men’s division, South Africa have been drawn alongside Ghana, Zimbabwe and Namibia while Pool B features Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria. The men’s side are the current Continental champions.

The top two teams in each pool qualify for the semi-finals on Saturday, October 31 and the winners of those respective matches will then determine who plays in the final the following day.

In the ladies division, SA are joined by Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Namibia – who will all compete in a round-robin format. The winner will be determined by the country to finishes with the highest amount of points at the end of their matches.

The women will play in a round-robin format. The team with the most points by the end of the round-robin will win the right to be the African continent’s representative at the Rio Olympics.

The men’s side takes on Zimbabwe in their opening fixture on Friday, October 23 at 19.00 while the ladies begin their campaign against Nigeria the following day.

Teams: (Varsity Hockey players in bold)

SA Men: Rassie Pieterse, Jacques le Roux, Daniel Bell (Maties 2014), Rhett Halkett, Dylan Swanepoel (Maties 2014), Matt Guise-Brown (UP-Tuks 2014), Jethro Eustice, Dan Sibbald, Jonty Robinson, Miguel da Graca, Wade Paton, Tim Drummond, Julian Hykes, Brandon Panther (UJ 2014), Ignatius Malgraff (NMMU-Madibaz 2014), Richard Pautz (UP-Tuks 2014), Pierre de Voux, Lloyd Norris-Jones.

SA Ladies: Sanani Mangisa, Lisa Deetlefs, Christine Roos, Toni Marks (Wits), Shelly Russell, Bernie Coston (UJ 2013), Lilian du Plessis (UJ), Anelle van Deventer (NWU-Pukke), Celia Evans (NWU-Pukke), Nicolene Terblanche, Dirkie Chamberlain, Candice Manuel (UCT 2013), Illse Davids (Maties 2013), Jade Mayne, Tarryn Bright, Tanya Britz (UFS-Kovsies), Nicole Walraven (UFS-Kovsies), Cornelle Botha (UFS-Kovsies)

Fixtures: (All matches at Randburg Astro)

Friday, October 23

19.00: Men v Zimbabwe

Saturday, October 24

16.45: Ladies v Nigeria

Monday, October 26

19.00: Ladies v Namibia

Tuesday, October 27

16.45: Ladies v Zimbabwe
19.00: Men v Ghana

Thursday, October 29

16.45: Ladies v Kenya
19.00: Men v Namibia

Friday, October 30