National Hockey Teams Seek Olympic Slot

The National men and women hockey teams arrived to a chilly Kenyan winter on Tuesday morning in search of the single automatic slot reserved for the African continent at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Should both teams not win the championship but place second, they will have the opportunity to contest other countries selected from the five remaining continents in a pre-Olympic tournament to be organized by the World Hockey to determine who makes it to Beijing.

From the coping mechanisms exhibited by the teams, it was obvious the training tour of the Netherlands had served them well and has put the team in good stead to acclimatize easily. After some delays in sorting out their accommodation immediately on arrival, both teams stepped out onto the turf after a short rest to train and shake off the jetlag in the 10 degree Celsius weather under the aggressive watch of the Kenyan press. The press were all over the team wanting to know what they had up their sleeves after a successful tour of Europe ahead of the championship. The managers were able to keep the press at bay and offered to answer the questions they raised.

The teams were joined by their 2 Dutch coaches courtesy World Hockey on Wednesday and morale in camp ahead of the opening day matches on Saturday is very high with the teams being upbeat that they will be the biggest surprise at this championship. The women open their campaign with a date with fellow West Africans Nigeria at 10:30 local time (07:30 GMT) while the men lock horns with pre-tournament favourites South Africa at 16:30 local time (13:30 GMT). On day 2, the men battle their Nigerian counterparts while the women test the might of Kenya who denied them a bronze medal in the 8th All Africa Games in Abuja 4 years ago. The full schedule of matches is available on the Ghanweb website.

In a related development, the tournament has been rocked by threats of boycotts from the teams of host nation Kenya with the media having a field day with the story. Indeed, the Kenyans players have indicated on various television networks that if their demands were not met, then they were definitely walking out. While the Kenyans were at it, the Nigerian team also dropped a bombshell of their own vowing not to step on the pitch if their grievances were not resolved. Officials of both teams and of the African Hockey Federation are struggling to ensure that all teams participate in this very important tournament for the African continent.  Participating Teams WOMEN MEN

Ghana Kenya Namibia Nigeria South Africa Zimbabwe Egypt

Ghana Kenya Uganda Nigeria South Africa

Match Schedule

Date Match # Time Pitch Match

Sat 14 Jul 2007 1 08:30 1 W South Africa V. Namibia

2 10:30 1 W Ghana V. Nigeria

3 12:30 1 W Zimbabwe V. Kenya

4 14:30 1 M Ghana V. South Africa

5 16:30 1 M Kenya V. Nigeria

Sun 15 Jul 2007 6 08:30 1 W Nigeria V. South Africa

7 10:30 1 W Namibia V. Zimbabwe

8 12:30 1 W Kenya V. Ghana

9 14:30 1 M Uganda V. Egypt

10 16:30 1 M Nigeria V. Ghana

Mon 16 Jul 2007 11 12:30 1 M South Africa V. Uganda

12 14:30 1 M Egypt V. Nigeria

13 16:30 1 M Ghana V. Kenya

Women Rest Day

Tue 17 Jul 2007 14 08:30 1 W Ghana V. Namibia

15 10:30 1 W Kenya V. Nigeria

16 12:30 1 W South Africa V. Zimbabwe

Men Rest Day

Wed 18 Jul 2007 17 10:30 1 W Zimbabwe V. Nigeria

18 12:30 1 W Ghana V. South Africa

19 14:30 1 M Egypt V. South Africa

20 16:30 1 M Kenya V. Uganda

Thu 19 Jul 2007 21 08:30 1 W Namibia V. Kenya

22 10:30 1 W Zimbabwe V. Ghana

23 12:30 1 M South Africa V. Nigeria

24 14:30 1 M Egypt V. Kenya

25 16:30 1 M Uganda V. Ghana

Fri 20 Jul 2007 26 08:30 1 W Nigeria V. Namibia

27 10:30 1 W Kenya V. South Africa

28 12:30 1 M South Africa V. Kenya

29 14:30 1 M Nigeria V. Uganda

30 16:30 1 M Egypt V. Ghana

Sat 21 Jul 2007 31 13:00 1 W 5th V. 6th

32 15:30 1 M 5th V. 6th

Sun 22 Jul 2007 33 08:00 1 W 3rd V. 4th

34 10:30 1 M 3rd V. 4th

35 13:00 1 W 1st V. 2nd

36 15:30 1 M 1st V. 2nd