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National Hockey Teams Seek Olympic Slot

Black Sticks@Holland 2007

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 Source: --

The National men and women hockey teams arrived to a chilly Kenyan winter on Tuesday morning in search of the single automatic slot reserved for the African continent at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Should both teams not win the championship but place second, they will have the opportunity to contest other countries selected from the five remaining continents in a pre-Olympic tournament to be organized by the World Hockey to determine who makes it to Beijing.

From the coping mechanisms exhibited by the teams, it was obvious the training tour of the Netherlands had served them well and has put the team in good stead to acclimatize easily. After some delays in sorting out their accommodation immediately on arrival, both teams stepped out onto the turf after a short rest to train and shake off the jetlag in the 10 degree Celsius weather under the aggressive watch of the Kenyan press. The press were all over the team wanting to know what they had up their sleeves after a successful tour of Europe ahead of the championship. The managers were able to keep the press at bay and offered to answer the questions they raised.


The teams were joined by their 2 Dutch coaches courtesy World Hockey on Wednesday and morale in camp ahead of the opening day matches on Saturday is very high with the teams being upbeat that they will be the biggest surprise at this championship. The women open their campaign with a date with fellow West Africans Nigeria at 10:30 local time (07:30 GMT) while the men lock horns with pre-tournament favourites South Africa at 16:30 local time (13:30 GMT). On day 2, the men battle their Nigerian counterparts while the women test the might of Kenya who denied them a bronze medal in the 8th All Africa Games in Abuja 4 years ago. The full schedule of matches is available on the Ghanweb website.


In a related development, the tournament has been rocked by threats of boycotts from the teams of host nation Kenya with the media having a field day with the story. Indeed, the Kenyans players have indicated on various television networks that if their demands were not met, then they were definitely walking out. While the Kenyans were at it, the Nigerian team also dropped a bombshell of their own vowing not to step on the pitch if their grievances were not resolved. Officials of both teams and of the African Hockey Federation are struggling to ensure that all teams participate in this very important tournament for the African continent. Participating Teams WOMEN MEN


Ghana Kenya Namibia Nigeria South Africa Zimbabwe Egypt


Ghana Kenya Uganda Nigeria South Africa


Match Schedule


Date Match # Time Pitch Match


Sat 14 Jul 2007 1 08:30 1 W South Africa V. Namibia


2 10:30 1 W Ghana V. Nigeria

3 12:30 1 W Zimbabwe V. Kenya


4 14:30 1 M Ghana V. South Africa


5 16:30 1 M Kenya V. Nigeria


Sun 15 Jul 2007 6 08:30 1 W Nigeria V. South Africa


7 10:30 1 W Namibia V. Zimbabwe


8 12:30 1 W Kenya V. Ghana


9 14:30 1 M Uganda V. Egypt


10 16:30 1 M Nigeria V. Ghana


Mon 16 Jul 2007 11 12:30 1 M South Africa V. Uganda

12 14:30 1 M Egypt V. Nigeria


13 16:30 1 M Ghana V. Kenya


Women Rest Day


Tue 17 Jul 2007 14 08:30 1 W Ghana V. Namibia


15 10:30 1 W Kenya V. Nigeria


16 12:30 1 W South Africa V. Zimbabwe


Men Rest Day


Wed 18 Jul 2007 17 10:30 1 W Zimbabwe V. Nigeria


18 12:30 1 W Ghana V. South Africa

19 14:30 1 M Egypt V. South Africa


20 16:30 1 M Kenya V. Uganda


Thu 19 Jul 2007 21 08:30 1 W Namibia V. Kenya


22 10:30 1 W Zimbabwe V. Ghana


23 12:30 1 M South Africa V. Nigeria


24 14:30 1 M Egypt V. Kenya


25 16:30 1 M Uganda V. Ghana


Fri 20 Jul 2007 26 08:30 1 W Nigeria V. Namibia


27 10:30 1 W Kenya V. South Africa

28 12:30 1 M South Africa V. Kenya


29 14:30 1 M Nigeria V. Uganda


30 16:30 1 M Egypt V. Ghana


Sat 21 Jul 2007 31 13:00 1 W 5th V. 6th


32 15:30 1 M 5th V. 6th


Sun 22 Jul 2007 33 08:00 1 W 3rd V. 4th


34 10:30 1 M 3rd V. 4th


35 13:00 1 W 1st V. 2nd


36 15:30 1 M 1st V. 2nd

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