{"id":4516,"date":"2025-04-25T07:44:27","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T05:44:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/?p=4516"},"modified":"2025-04-25T07:44:27","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T05:44:27","slug":"junior-africa-cup-final-pool-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/25\/junior-africa-cup-final-pool-stage\/","title":{"rendered":"Junior Africa Cup \u2013 Final Pool Stage"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Africa complete perfect pool stage \u2013 all eyes now on the final<\/span><\/p>\n

Both the South African U21 Men and Women\u2019s teams wrapped up the group stages of the Junior Africa Cup with victories to secure a 100% record, setting the stage for Friday\u2019s double-header final against hosts Namibia. While both sides were already assured of qualification to the FIH Junior World Cup, the day\u2019s results ensured momentum and bragging rights heading into the gold medal matches.<\/span><\/p>\n

Women: South Africa 6\u20131 Namibia<\/span><\/strong>
\n<\/span>With both teams safely through to the World Cup and final, the match between South Africa and Namibia had the feel of a high-quality dress rehearsal. Despite the lighter tension, the South African Women remained focused and clinical.<\/span><\/p>\n

Teshawn<\/span> de la Rey opened the scoring early, and Olympian Ntsopa Mokoena doubled the lead before half-time. In the third quarter, captain <\/span>Caylin<\/span> Maree netted a quick-fire brace, while fellow Olympian Paris-Gail Isaacs extended the advantage to 5\u20130.<\/span><\/p>\n

Namibia found a breakthrough \u2014 the first goal conceded by South Africa all tournament \u2014 through Mia <\/span>Karsten<\/span>, but fittingly, it was de la Rey who completed the scoring with her second of the day.<\/span><\/p>\n

South Africa head into Friday\u2019s final with 33 goals scored and just one conceded, aiming to defend their African title and head to Chile as continental champions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Men: South Africa 2\u20131 Kenya<\/span><\/strong>
\n<\/span>The South African Men were given their sternest test of the tournament by a fired-up Kenyan side chasing momentum ahead of their third-place playoff against Egypt \u2014 a clash that will decide Africa\u2019s final Junior World Cup berth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kenya stunned the South Africans with an early goal from <\/span>Bhamra<\/span>, putting South Africa behind for the first time in the competition. <\/span>Carloon<\/span> Mentoor<\/span> struck back to level the scores, but what followed was a physical, tactical battle with chances at a premium.<\/span><\/p>\n

With just minutes remaining, Ross Montgomery forced the ball over the line in a crowded circle to seal a dramatic 2\u20131 victory and protect South Africa\u2019s perfect record.<\/span><\/p>\n

Having achieved their primary goal of World Cup qualification, South Africa now turn their attention to retaining their title as African champions in Friday\u2019s final against the hosts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Friday Finals \u2013 All to Play For:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 <\/span>Women\u2019s Final: South Africa vs Namibia \u2013 1<\/span>6<\/span>:<\/span>25<\/span><\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>Men\u2019s Final: South Africa vs Namibia \u2013 1<\/span>9<\/span>:00<\/span><\/div>\n

Both matches will be streamed live on the African Hockey YouTube channel, as South Africa looks to cap off a dominant tournament with two gold medals<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africa complete perfect pool stage \u2013 all eyes now on the final Both the South African U21 Men and Women\u2019s teams wrapped up the Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4517,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hockey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4516"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4518,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4516\/revisions\/4518"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}