GRAND MASTERS HOCKEY WORLD CUP 2010 – CAPE TOWN

Cape Town is set to host yet another World Cup! This time it’s the 5th Grand Masters Hockey World Cup and the first in Africa, following on from tournaments previously held every two years in Kuala Lumpur, Athens, Leverkusen and Hong Kong.

The international tournament is made up of three separate age group sections, Over 60 (Grand Masters), Over 65 (Great Grand Masters) and Over 70 (Senior Grand Masters). Also in the Over 60 and Over 65 categories, there is a Trophy pool, for National “B” and Invitation teams. South Africa has entered a team into the over 60 Grand Masters category as well as a South African B side in the Trophy pool.

26 hockey teams will be participating from 9 hockey nations across all the different age groups as well as some invitational teams. The international teams competing are South Africa (3 teams), Australia (3), England (5), Germany (4), Scotland (2), New Zealand (1), Netherlands (4), Italy (1), Wales (1) and the Alliance Club (2). New Zealand will be participating for the first time.

“The other country’s teams come from seriously strong masters leagues and we will certainly have our work cut out in much the same way as our National side does” says Des Yeats, the coach of the SA A team. This is the 2^nd time that South Africa has participated in the WGMA World Cup after Hong Kong in 2008. Des continues to say, “The side previously ended joint 7^th out of 9 and we are certainly looking to improve on that performance.”

The SA A team has struggled to get together to train as the players come from Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Eastern Gauteng, Gauteng, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.  The majority of the team, however, met at the National Masters Tournament in George in August and had training sessions over 3 days after playing 2 games already during the day, rather taxing on the 60 plus year old bodies.

The tournament will run from the 15th to the 24th of September 2010 at the Hartleyvale Olympic hockey stadium in Observatory, Cape Town. The opening day will see South Africa take on Australia in the Grand Masters +60 category at 15h00 on 15^th of September.

For a full list of fixtures and results you can visit the event webpage, www.wgmahockeyworldcup2010.co.za.

For more information please contact:

Jack Thonissen
WPHU Marketing portfolio
Email: jack_thonissen@hotmail.com
Cell no. 072 444 7274

Jane McKenzie
Organising Committee Chairperson
Email: jane.mc@vodamail.co.za
Cell no: 082 972 9552

World Grand Masters Association website
www.wgma60plusworldhockey.com

FURTHER MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES

14 Sep – Meet and greet at Newlands Cricket Ground with a team march past on the field
22 Sep – Final dinner (African theme at Mzoli’s restaurant)
24 Sep – Medal Awards at Hartleyvale Olympic Hockey Stadium, Observatory, Cape Town

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S486PrDdoE

Korea produced a superb fight-back from 3-1 down to claim a 5-3 victory over South Africa. The result has sealed Korea’s place in the 5th-6th place classification match, while South Africa will now play in the 9th-10th place play-off.

Sulette DAMONS scored her second goal of the tournament in just the second minute of the match, finding the net with a close range tap-in. It took Korea until the 34th minute to find an equaliser, with captain LEE Seon Ok scoring from the penalty spot.

South Africa took the initiative in the 50th minute when Cindy BOTHA slid in to force the ball into the net from the left, giving her side a 2-1 lead. Things went from bad to worse for Korea when CHEON Seul Ki was given a Yellow Card in the 52nd minute for a poor challenge on Pietee COETZEE, and South Africa made their opponents pay when BOTHA netted her second less that sixty seconds later from open play to make the score 3-1.

Despite being down to ten players, Korea pulled a goal back when KIM Bo Mi deflected a penalty corner high into the roof of the net in the 55th minute before CHEON made amends for her Yellow Card by sending a low penalty corner flick beyond South Africa keeper Mariette RIX to tie the scores. Korea moved ahead for the first time in the match when KIM Young Ran smashed a reverse stick shot into the net after South Africa failed to clear their defensive lines, before the 5-3 result was sealed by PARK Mi Hyun’s 67th minute field goal.

Match Review 26 – Korea v South Africa 5-3

> Korea came back from two goals down (1-3) to beat South Africa 5-3.
> Korea will now play the play-off for fifth place against Australia or Germany.
> South Africa qualify for the Final 9-10, exceeding their performance at the last two World Cups when they finished 13th (2002) and 12th (2006).
> The last time Korea scored at least 5 goals in a World Cup match was in 2002 when they beat Scotland 6-2.
> Sulette Damons opened the score in the 2nd minute of the game. This was South Africa’s fastest World Cup goal since 2002, when Pietie Coetzee scored in the first minute of the game against Russia (4-1).
> Cindy Botha scored twice in two minutes to become the first RSA player in eight years to score twice in a World Cup match. The last one to do so was Pietie Coetzee in 2002 (vs UKR 3-1).
> Five different players scored for Korea in today’s match.
> Korea converted two of six penalty corners awarded today. Before today’s match they had only converted  only 1 of 14.

Source: www.worldhockey.org

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR1JxdxZkLo

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h0EXZG7bLE

England – bronze medal winners at the recent Champions Trophy in Nottingham – took a giant leap towards claiming a place in the Semi Finals by securing their third win of the tournament, defeating South Africa 2-1. Helen RICHARDSON netted twice to give her side the win, but a strong South Africa surge in the second half saw Pietee COETZEE claim her third goal of the tournament. Despite a brilliant effort from South Africa, England held on to claim all three points in front of a big crowd here in Rosario.

England were certainly the better team in the first half, attacking at will and pinning the South Africa team deep in their own territory for long periods. A number of chances were missed before RICHARDSON’s low, powerful shot from the right of the circle hit the bottom left corner of Mariette RIX’s goal in the 9th minute. Crista CULLEN had a a couple of penalty corner chances to extend England’s advantage, but her low flicks were off target.

South Africa’s Star forward Pietee COETZEE had been kept out of the game for great lengths of the first half, but her influence began to grow during the second period as her team-mates began to find her with their passes. However, RICHARDSON – a player who was in stunning form throughout the match – grabbed England’s second with a perfectly aimed penalty corner deflection from Crista CULLEN’s low flick (48mins). South Africa pulled a goal back when the dangerous COETZEE launched a penalty corner flick inside Beth STORRY’s right post (58mins). The crowd sensed that South Africa could perform a rescue act and began to support their every touch of the ball. However, the England defence held strong to claim all three points and move a step nearer to reaching the last four. 

The win moved England to the top of the table ahead of the two remaining Pool B matches that take place later today.
Match 19 – England v South Africa 2-1

> England are still unbeaten after four matches at Rosario 2010 (3 wins – 1 draw).
> If Korea fail to beat Spain later today, England progress to the semi-finals.
> Helen Richardson (ENG) has now scored in back-to-back games, she also scored in the match against Korea.
> This is the first time Richardson scored twice in World Cup match in three World Cup participations.
> Pietie Coetzee (RSA) scored her third PC goal this tournament. At the 2002 World Cup she also netted against England.
> Lisa-Marie Deetlefs (RSA) is the first to collect 2 yellow cards this tournament.
> England converted 1 of 6 penalty corners today.
> South Africa scored 1 of 3 penalty corners in today’s match.

Source: www.worldhockey.org

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOFi4hNjmlA

The first match of six matches here at the BDO FIH Hockey World Cup in Rosario, Argentina saw China defeat South Africa 1-4 in a game rescheduled from yesterday. GAO Lihua was the hero for her team, scoring three times in the game for her team. The win was a vital one for China, keeping alive their hopes of reaching the Semi Finals.

An entertaining first half saw both sides defy the early start, attacking hard from the very first moments. South Africa took an early lead when Jennifer WILSON deflected a low penalty corner flick from Pietie COETZEE in the third minute, but China grabbed an equaliser thanks to REN Ye’s instinctive reverse stick tip-in from a penalty corner cross shot by GAO Lihua (26mins).  Sulette DAMONS almost moved RSA ahead a minute later, but failed to make contact with her attempted close range volley. Despite this missed chance for South Africa, it was China certainly finished the half as the stronger team, creating a number of excellent goal-scoring opportunities thwarted by the RSA defenders.

China continued their domination in the second half, and deservedly took the lead when the ever-reliable FU Baorong found the target from open play in the 43rd minute. South Africa were up against the ropes for much of the period, as the newly confident China team went in search of more goals. Two strikes in just over three minutes from GAO Lihua completed the scoring, the first being a fierce reverse stick shot into the bottom corner before a close-range tap-in sealed the win. 

Match 13 – South Africa v China 1-4

> China join South Africa on 3 points in Pool B.
> China equal their record for most goals scored in a World Cup match beating South Africa 4-1.
> At the 2006 World Cup China beat SA 4-0. They also scored four against Ukraine in 2002 (4-1) and India in 1998 (4-2).
> Jennifer Wilson (RSA) has now scored in the last three World Cup tournaments (2002, 2006 and 2010), 4 WC goals in total.
> Ren Ye (CHN) netted her fourth career World Cup goal and her second against South Africa. In 2006 she also netted against SA.
> Ren Ye’s goal is China’s only PC goal in 11 attempts at Rosario 2010.
> All three South Africa games at Rosario 2010 have seen a 1-1 half-time score.
> Fu Baorong netted a field goal against RSA like she did the last times these teams met at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
> Gao Lihua netted her fist two World Cup goals today. She has now scored in all three major tournaments.

Source: www.worldhockey.org