Lausanne (Switzerland), Apr 26 (UNI) The best young teams in Africa competed in the Junior Africa Cup (JAC) 2024 (M/W) from April 18-25, with South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe women, along with South Africa, Namibia and Egypt men finishing in the medal positions and securing the the final three spots at the upcoming edition of the men’s and women’s FIH Junior Hockey World Cups 2025.

In the women’s competition South Africa dominated the pool stage of the competition, winning all five of their matches comfortably, finishing with 15 points and a goal difference of +38! Namibia finished in second place, winning all their matches except for their final pool stage match against South Africa.

Both teams sealed their spots in the final and with it a spot at the upcoming FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Chile 2025. Zimbabwe and Uganda were placed third and fourth in the pool respectively, setting up a bronze medal match, with the winner taking the final available spot at the upcoming junior world cup.

In the bronze medal match on the final day, Zimbabwe dominated Uganda, scoring 6 goals on the trot, until Uganda pulled one back in the final minute, to win out 6-1 and join South Africa and Namibia in qualifying for the World Cup in Chile.

Following an edgy start to the final, South Africa scored the first goal of the game midway through

the second quarter to take a slender lead into the break. Three goals in the third quarter gave South Africa complete control over the game and a fifth goal in the final quarter finished off the contest 5-0 in favour of South Africa as they won gold and Namibia finished with silver.

In the men’s competition it was once again South Africa taking the top spot, winning all five of their matches to register 15 points. Namibia finished in second place, winning four matches to get to 12 points, only dropping points to South Africa in a heavy 8-0 defeat early in the tournament.

The two teams qualified for the gold medal match on the final day, and with it secured a spot at the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup India 2025. Egypt and Kenya were placed third and fourth in the pool, and following a 4-4 draw in their pool stage contest, set up an enticing bronze medal shootout

to secure the final spot at the upcoming junior world cup.

The bronze medal match lived up to the anticipation as once again Egypt and Kenya could not be separated in the regulation time, with shootouts required to decide the final podium finisher. The Egyptian forwards showed nerves of steel to score 4 consecutive attempts in the shootouts and two misses for Kenya meant victory and a spot at the upcoming world cup for Egypt.

South Africa were lethal from penalty corners all through the competition and relied on the same to dominate the final, scoring three goals from the set piece in a 5-0 win, securing the gold medal, while Namibia settled for silver.

Following the conclusion of the Junior Africa Cup 2024 and the completion of the qualifying process for the FIH Junior World Cups, FIH President Tayyab Ikram said, “Congratulations to South Africa (women and men), Namibia (women and men), Zimbabwe (women) and Egypt (men) for clinching the top three spots of the Junior Africa Cup staged in Namibia’s capital city, Windhoek, and therefore qualifying for the 2025 FIH Hockey Junior World Cups that will be played in Chile (women) and India (men) and will, for the first time, involve 24 teams each! Enabling greater accessibility to our events

is one of the fundamental principles of the FIH Empowerment and Engagement strategy.”

The FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup 2025 will be played in Chennai and Madurai, India.

As hosts India qualified for the competition. Belgium, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, Austria and Switzerland have qualified from Europe.

Argentina, Canada and Chile have qualified from the Americas. Pakistan, China, Bangladesh,

Japan, Malaysia and Thailand secured qualification from Asia.

Australia and New Zealand have qualified from Oceania. Following the qualification of South Africa, Namibia and Egypt from Africa, the qualification process for the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup India 2025 is now complete.

The FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup 2025 will be played in Santiago, Chile. Chile qualified

as the hosts of the competition. Argentina, Uruguay, United States and Canada qualified from the Americas.

Austria, Belgium, England, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, Wales and Scotland qualified from Europe.

India, China, Japan, Korea and Malaysia secured qualification from Asia.

Australia and New Zealand secured their spot at the event from Oceania.

Following the qualification of South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe from Africa, the qualification process for the FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup Chile 2025 is now complete.

UNI BM