SA indoor hockey stars blaze into Nkosi Cup with big wins over New Zealand

South Africa’s Indoor Hockey World Cup bronze medallists started their Nkosi Cup title in Cape Town with a statement 5-1 win over New Zealand’s men, while the women put seven past the hapless Kiwi women in a ruthless display on a high-scoring opening day on Friday at Wynberg Military Base.     

The men, who are chasing a hat-trick of wins in the tournament, were playing in front of their home crowd for the first time since winning the World Cup bronze medal in Croatia earlier this year. 

Justin Rosenburg’s charges came out firing and it was no surprise that World Cup Player of the Tournament Mustapha Cassiem opened the scoring. His brother Dayaan, the captain, joined the party with a reverse flick to make it 2-0 before Mustapha got his second to make it 3-0 in the first quarter. A neat Hans Neethling deflection and  Marvin Simons goal rounded off the scoring for the hosts, who had led 4-1 at half-time.

“Not a bad start. I think we started quite slowly in that first chukka and then obviously got into our straps,” Rosenburg said in his post-match television interview. “Their keeper made some really good saves in the third and fourth chukka that kept them in the game.

“We’ve got a tough game tomorrow against USA, with a short turnaround. Obviously it’s part of the process to make sure to get better throughout the week.”

SA’s women are chasing their first title in the competition, having twice finished as runners up to Namibia. 

Braces by Player-of-the-Match Cerian Fourie, Tatum Kroutz and Daniella de Oliveira helped seal the rout over New Zealand, after the hosts had led 3-0 at half-time, with Malika Hamza also getting on the scoresheet.

Calvin Price was making his debut as SA head coach after a successful stint with Namibia.

“It was a great game. I think we moved the ball exceptionally well, we defended well. We pride ourselves on being a defending team and to have no goals against us in an indoor game is awesome,” Price said.

Defending champions Namibia got their title defence off to the perfect start with an emphatic 7-3 win over tournament debutants Zimbabwe in the opening match of the competition. Zimbabwe’s inclusion was a welcome one, but they were immediately tested by a ruthless Namibian outfit.

The match of the day, however, was the seesaw men’s thriller between Namibia and USA, where eight goals were scored in the second half – including a hat-trick by USA’s Albert Montilla. The African side would not be denied, however, and held firm to secure a pulsating 6-5 victory.

More heart-stopping action is on the cards on Saturday, when the SA men will face USA, while the women will take on Australia.