Next generation steps up at Nkosi Cup

With a "super young" squad containing six school girls of 2025, coach Shayne Cormack and captain Kiana-Ché Cormack were both chuffed to have convincingly won two out of two at the Nkosi Cup indoor hockey tournament in Cape Town. Tamara Grögli has scored three goals after the first two matches against Zimbabwe and New Zealand, while Leila Grögli, Ottilie Hinda, Allison January, Alexandra Erasmus (goalkeeper) and Sienna Richards have all settled in well when called upon. Except for Erasmus (Windhoek Affies), the others all played for St. Paul’s first team in the past year. “Obviously ecstatic to have started the tournament so well, with so many playing their first internationals ever. What more could we have asked for more,” Kiana-Ché said. “There was a stage (against New Zealand) when almost all the senior players were on the bench, and we were actually 1-2 down. We expected the youngsters to be a bit anxious, but then they responded with this amazing team goal and it just settled me and the other seniors. We were like, they deserve to be here and they’re just going to grow with every single game as they get older.” NEW ZEALAND OVERPOWERED Namibia’s women remained unbeaten after two matches on Saturday morning – beating New Zealand by the identical 7-3 margin they had dealt to Zimbabwe the previous afternoon. Namibia fell behind early on, by 1-2 and 2-3, but ran away with the second half through more clinical finishing. Goals were scored by Sunelle Ludwig (three), Tamara Grögli, Allison January and Kiana-Ché Cormack (two). • Against Zimbabwe, Namibia stormed to a 6-0 lead before winning 7-3 in their opening match. Kiana-Ché Cormack, the captain in the absence of the injured Gillian Hermanus, scored the first goal after five minutes, followed by strikes from her elder sister Jerrica Bartlett, one each from the debutant sisters Tamara and Leila Grögli, Ottilie Hinda, and a second goal for Tamara Grögli. Zimbabwe recovered with goals by Alexei Terblanche (2) and Lylie Wilde, but Namibia finished off with Sunelle Ludwig’s 7-3 goal just before the final whistle. NKOSI CUP, MEN Australia beat Namibia 5-3 in their men’s indoor hockey international in the Nkosi Cup in Cape Town on Saturday night. Australia led 2-1 at halftime, after Dylan Finch’s penalty stroke for Namibia reduced their earlier two-goal advantage. Namibia added a Finch field goal in the third quarter and Ernest Jacobs converted from a penalty corner, but the under-strength men’s squad could not stop Australia from out-scoring them by two goals. The Namibia team captained by goalkeeper DJ Strauss and under coach Trevor Cormack are in Cape Town looking to progress to their third successive final – but this time without numerous stalwarts including John-Paul Britz (captain of Namibia U21 during the just completed FIH Junior Men’s field hockey World Cup in India), his brother David Britz, Fagan Hansen, Dakota Hansen and Liam Hermanus. Saturday’s other men’s results: New Zealand beat Australia 4-3 / South Africa beat USA 6-1 / New Zealand beat USA 3-2. • On Friday, Namibia overcame a determined challenge by the United States to win their opening match 6-5. Namibia took the lead first with Dylan Finch’s opener. In the second quarter, USA conceded another goal to Ernest Jacobs before replying with Alexandre Beauduin’s strike after 18 minutes (halftime 2-1). Each team scored once in the third quarter – Alberto Montilla for USA and Shayan Azadeh for Namibia – before the frantic final quarter where each team struck three goals. Goals by Finch, Delron Handura and the winner by Jacobs extended Namibia’s lead, after USA had worked their way to a late equaliser through Montilla, Pat Harris and Montilla again. MONDAY On Monday, the Namibian women face hosts South Africa at 11:40, before the men also play against South Africa at 13:00. The men’s semi-finals are Monday at 17:20 and 20:00. In between will be the women’s semi-finals at 16:00 and 18:40. All matches are broadcast live on SuperSport. FIELD HOCKEY WORLD CUP In a tight finish to Namibia’s FIH Junior Women’s World Cup journey in Santiago, Chili, the U21 women fought hard in a 1-2 defeat against African rivals Zimbabwe on Saturday. Maryke Kruger put Namibia ahead from a penalty corner after six minutes, but Zimbabwe equalised before the end of the first quarter, and found a winning goal during the third quarter. While the 24th-place finish out of 24 is tough to take, the Namibia Hockey Union celebrates the monumental achievement of reaching its inaugural two FIH Junior World Cups in field hockey (both men and women) and is pleased with how coach Sedtric Makati’s girls competed with resilience throughout the tournament.