HOCKEY: Hockey World Cup - South African hockey’s moment of truth

BALL SPORTS

Words: Eunice Visagie | Photos: Rodrigo Jaramillo, Stanislas Brochier & Kouichi Takamari Video: Courtesy of Austin Smith

HOCKEY WORLD CUP

South African hockey’s moment of truth WHEN THE HOCKEY WORLD CUP STARTS THIS FRIDAY IN THE HAGUE, HOLLAND, IT WILL BE THE TIME OF TRUTH FOR THE SOUTH AFRICAN MEN’S AND WOMEN’S HOCKEY TEAMS. Taking place from 31 May to 15 June 2014, the 2010 defending Champions are Australia (men) and Argentina (women). Both South African teams finished 10th in New Delhi.

Rhett Halkett. Photo credit: Kouichi Takamori

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MEN

THE FIRST HOCKEY WORLD CUP WAS HELD IN 1971 AND WON BY PAKISTAN. IN THAT FIRST WORLD CUP, AFRICA WAS REPRESENTED

BY KENYA AND THE WEST AFRICANS, AND FINISHED 4TH. UNTIL THIS DAY IS THE BEST PERFORMANCE BY ANY AFRICAN TEAM. Pakistan has won the World Cup an impressive four times, in 1971, 1978, 1982, and 1994; the most titles currently held by any country. Netherlands has been victorious on three occasions (1973, 1990, and 1998), while Australia (1986 and 2010) and Germany (2002 and 2006) have won twice. The only other World Cup winner is India (1975). Favourites this year will once again be Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands. The days of Pakistan being a force to be reckoned with are long gone, having finished only 12th in 2010.

South Africa, led by Austin Smith, will take on Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand, Korea, and Argentina in the group matches. It is going to be a very important tournament for Smith and the lads. Not only because any World Cup tournament is important but a good performance on the world’s biggest stage for hockey will go a long way in securing a much-needed permanent sponsor. There has been some good news on this front in the lead up to the World Cup, with DLA Piper Germany, DLA Piper Netherlands and South African firm DLA Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr jointly sponsoring the men’s team for this World Cup. SuperSport has also come on board as event sponsor and will broadcast every match – all 76 of them – live. These sponsors are only for the weeks in The Hague though, so this will be the time to impress with an eye on the future of the sport.

Coach Fabian Gregory has chosen a combination of experience and youth with his 18 players. Defender and über drag-flick specialist Justin Reid-Ross, who hasn’t played for the Proteas since the 2012 London Olympics, has been included in the team led by Smith. Some of the youngsters include Dylan Swanepoel and Clinton Panther, who were two of the biggest stars in the recent Varsity Hockey. Panther played for the winning side, University of Johannesburg, while Swanepoel, from Maties in Stellenbosch, was named Player of the Series. Swanepoel, also the youngest member of the team, made his intentions clear before the team left for the Netherlands. "I aim to make a big contribution to the team at the World Cup. I don't want to be a young player that is just going for the experience. I want to contribute at every training session and match, and say that I left the World Cup making a big contribution to the team," stated Swanepoel.

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Lloyd Norris-Jones and Austria's Christian Minar, Japan, 2012.

Photo credit: Stanislas Brochier

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South Africa scores to make it 3-3 against Japan. Photo credit: Stanislas Brochier

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GREGORY ALSO CALLED IN REINFORCEMENTS FOR HIS COACHING STAFF. DUTCH-MENTOR BARTEL BERKHOUT WILL BE PART OF THE MEN’S TEAM COACHING STAFF. Berkhout is a specialist in team performance and talent management. He has been involved for the last 15 years as a FIH sports coach in several high-performance field hockey teams.

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WOMEN

THE FIRST WORLD CUP FOR WOMEN WAS PLAYED IN 1974, IN FRANCE, AND WON BY THE NETHERLANDS. This has

also been the nation that has dominated women’s World Cup tournaments, having won an incredible six times in 1974, 1978, 1983, 1986, 1990, and 2006. Other winners have been Germany (1976 and 1981), Australia (1994 and 1998), and Argentina (2002 and 2010).

While the Netherlands’ world dominance was somewhat stalled by Australia in the 1990s and the coming of age of Argentina and probably the best hockey player ever, Luciana Aymar, they are once again the best team in the world.

Aymar is the kind of player that only comes around once in a lifetime. She was player of the tournament in 2002 and 2010, and has been the FIH World Player of the Year eight times since 2001. At the age of 36, she will once again be the player to watch out for, along with the Netherlands’ star player Maartje Pauman.

South African coach Giles Bonnet stayed with a tried and tested squad. Of the 18 players, 13 have more than 100 caps. Marsha Cox, who has played more than 300 matches for her country, and her team will play against England, Argentina, Germany, China, and USA in the group matches. Their recent good performance at the Champions Challenge, where they finished 4th, will come in handy when it comes to confidence.

Come 15 June, we will know whether The Hague will be painted in orange – House of Oranje – or if Australia and Argentina will once again be the kings and queens of world hockey.

SA SQUADS MEN:

Rassie Pieterse, Gowan Jones, Rhett Halkett, Austin Smith (captain), Dylan Swanepoel, Jethro Eustuce, Justin Reid-Ross, Lloyd Madsen, Wade Paton, Taine Paton, Tim Drummond, Clint Panther, Jonty Robinson, Julian Hykes, Lungi Tsolekile, Lloyd Norris-Jones, Pierre de Voux, and Ignatius Malgraff.

WOMEN: Anelle van Deventer, Lisa Deetlefs, Marcelle Manson, Nicolene Terbranche, Lenise Marais, Marsha Cox (captain), Shelley Russell, Bernie Coston, Tarryn Bright, Dirkie Chamberlain, Celia Evans, Sanani Mangisa, Quanita Bobbs, Illse Davids, Kelly Madsen, Lillian du Plessis, Kathleen Taylor, and Sulette Damons. • For more World Cup hockey news, visit www.rabobankhockeyworldcup2014.com/ or follow @FIH_Hockey All matches will broadcast live on SuperSport channel 5, 7 and 8.

For the full schedule, visit (http://services.supersport.com/)

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Shelley Russell. Photo credit: Rodrigo Jaramillo

SA GROUP MATCHES Sunday, 1 June: SA vs. Argentina (women); SA vs. Germany (men) Tuesday, 3 June: SA vs. Germany (women); SA vs. New Zealand (men) Friday 6 June: SA vs. England (women); SA vs. Korea (men) Sunday, 8 June: SA vs. China (women); SA vs. Netherland (men) Tuesday, 10 June: SA vs. USA (women); SA vs. Argentina (men)

WORLD RANKINGS (TEAMS AT WORLD CUP)

Men: 1. Australia, 2. Germany, 3. Netherlands, 4. England, 5. Belgium, 6. New Zealand, 7. Korea, 8. India, 10. Spain, 11. Argentina, 12. South Africa, and 13. Malaysia.

Women: 1. Netherlands, 2. Argentina, 3. England, 4.

Australia, 5. New Zealand, 6. Germany, 7. China, 8. Korea, 9. Japan, 10. USA, 11. South Africa, and 12. Belgium.

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