Tough draws for SA field hockey teams at Olympic Games

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa’s men’s and women’s field hockey teams have received challenging draws for their pool matches at the Olympic Games in Paris later this year.

The men’s side is the only one of the six nations in Pool A that is outside of the top 10 FIH World Rankings. They’ll have to face the hosts France, Great Britain, world champions Germany, perennial favourites, the Netherlands, as well as Spain. 

At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, the team managed just one win in their five games, and it was a famous one, as they beat Germany 4-3. A lot has changed since then, however. Germany won the World Cup in 2022 and South African hockey has progressed at a slow pace, if at all since. There’s no doubt there will be a mountain to climb if the South Africans are to improve on their performance in Japan. 

The Proteas women have an equally arduous group to contend with, as they are the lowest-ranked team in Pool B. They’ll play Tokyo silver-medallists Argentina, number 2-ranked Australia, Great Britain, Spain and the USA. The last Games were disappointing for South Africa as they lost all five of their games. 

Both SA teams have been hard at work, with exactly six months to go until the start of the Paris Olympics. The women’s team is currently involved in a six-match Test series against France and leads 2-1 with four games played, while the men’s side will play Tests against India and France this month to help them prepare.