JONATHAN COOK
Two Free State players of Kovsies, Izelle Lategan and Tanya Britz, are in die Investec South Africa women’s hockey team playing the Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Nairobi, Kenya this week.
No player of the Free State could make the SA men team that is playing in Nairobi in the men’s tournament. The SA teams are the reigning African champions, having won the last of the biannual events in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe in 2011.
The men’s and women’s national teams that win the Africa Cup will qualify as the continent’s representatives at the 2014 Men’s and Women’s Hockey World Cup. The four-yearly showpiece is due to be held jointly in The Hague, Netherlands next year.
The Africa Cup men’s and women’s tournaments will be played on a one-round league format with the top two teams playing in the respective finals on Saturday.
The Egypt’s men’s side, always SA’s biggest opponent for Africa supremacy, will be the Proteas highest hurdle for the title in Nairobi.
There will be four men’s teams at Nairobi’s City Park Stadium. They are South Africa, Egypt, Ghana and hosts Kenya. The four women’s teams are South Africa, Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania.
The SA teams are:
Men: Rassie Pieterse, Jacque le Roux, Rhett Halkett, Francois Pretorius, Greg Last, Jethro Eustice, Dylan Swanepoel, Mohamed Mea, Austin Smith (capt), Jonty Robinson, Clint Panther, Wade Paton, Taine Paton, Julian Hykes, Geoff Abbott, Pierre de Voux, Lloyd Norris-Jones.
Investec Women: Hanli Hattingh, Phume Mbande, Lenise Marais (co-capt), Marcelle Keet (co-capt), Lisa Deetlefs, Illse Davids, Celia Evans, Shelley Russell, Kaila Flemming, Quanita Bobbs, Sulette Damons, Christine Roos, Jade Mayne, Bernie Coston, Tanya Britz, Lilian du Plessis, Izelle Lategan, Kelly Madsen.
