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| A hopeful SA U/23 and U/19 Underwater Hockey Team |
The SA U/23 and U/19 Underwater Hockey Teams started the World Championships in Hobart, Australia with 6 wins and 1 loss on day one. The U/23 Men and Ladies each played one game and the U/19 Ladies played three games and SA was on the winning side in all of them. The U/19 Men played two matches, winning one and loosing the second.
Online article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sa-teams-start-6-wins-worlds-zandre-coetzee
The tournament started today (Friday, 14th) and the finals are on Saturday 22 July. Games can be followed on http://tinyurl.com/hobartlivewhere they are live streamed as well as available afterwards. Full updated results are at https://sportsdesq.sportstg.com/portal/index.cfm?fuseaction=main&OrgID=10080
Previous articles about the SA Team at the Underwater Hockey World Championships are at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/family-matters-sa-underwater-hockey-zandre-coetzee and https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sa-underwater-hockey-players-going-world-hobart-zandre-coetzee
The SA U/19 Women who are the defending World Championships (from Spain 2015) opened the day for SA with a 5-0 win over USA. Captain Calista Pake scored 2 goals with Nicole Smit, Lise van Rhyn and Daniel Wentzel contributing the balance for SA.
The SA U/19 Men then beat Argentina 7-3 with Captain Ryan van Zyl scoring 2 goals and Austin Elferink, Joel Hanner, Simeon Jooste, Mathew Penning and Dirk van Reenen each scoring a goal.
Next up was the U/23 Ladies against Argentina. After a tough start they won 6-1. Captain Eleanor de Kock scored a goal and the team’s man of the match Zandrѐ Coetzee, scored 3 goals with Jordynne Elferink contributing the opening goal (a making it one each for the Elferink siblings) and Thea Rothman also contributing.
The U/19 Ladies then played their 2nd match of the day against Canada, beating them 8-0. Chrizanne Smit, Helen van Rhyn and Daniel Wentzel each scored 2 goals with Nina Adams and Oliva Langston also making contributions. Helen made in the 2nd sibling double of the day after sister Lise scored in the 1st match.
Next on the roster for SA was the u/23 Men who won a very hard match against Argentina 3 – 1. after a very balanced battle throughout the match. Again it was the captain Elrich Engelbrecht (2011 U/19 gold medalist) scoring 2 with JP van Zyl scoring the 3rd.
The U/19 men then played Great Britain and after conceding two early goals, they lost 3-1 with Khardan Ruocchio scoring the only goal for SA.
Last game of the day for the U/19 Women who play a double round robin and 3 games on some days was Great Britain and the ladies won 3-0, making for a hard but successful day in the pool for them. Goals where scored by Nicole Smit, Helen van Rhyn and “Spoetnik Gonsalez” Lise van Rhyn
Tomorrow the U/23 ladies are in for a very hard battle against New Zealand while the U/23 Men play Australia. The U/19 men play Great Britain and the U/19 Ladies play Columbia (who is always a force to be reckoned with) and also host Australia.
While it is only day one and the teams have a long way to go, we celebrate a successful day for South Africa on day 1 of the Underwater Hockey World Championships.
De Wet Coetzee (Parent)
Cell 072 024 9801
E-mail zandrewitblitz@gmail.com
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