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Namibia stun Australia 

Jivanka Kruger in action against Australia. Photo: Helge Schütz

Namibia’s women made a stunning start to the Indoor Hockey World Cup with a 3-2 victory against Australia yesterday. 

Kelsey Hughes gave Australia the lead from a short corner after barely 30 seconds but Namibia made a great comeback as Tara Myburgh equalised with a field goal midway through the second quarter. 

Australia regained the lead through Annelyse Tevant just after half time but Namibia dug deep and Myburgh equalised with her second field goal at the start of the final quarter. 

Australia threw everything into the attack but Namibia defended courageously and Jivanka Kruger scored the winner with two minutes to go to give Namibia a dramatic and historic victory as they beat Australia for the first time at the World Cup.  

Namibia’s men, meanwhile lost 7-4 to Belgium, but Namibia captain DJ Strauss said their were positives to take from the match despite the defeat. 

“I don’t think our performance was too bad, I think the boys played their hearts out, they gave it their all. Losing is never fun but you learn a lot from losing and it’s very valuable for us to see what we did wrong so that we can fix it. We still have two games left and we need to make those count,” he said after the match. 

Jahntwa Kruger in action for Namibia. Photo: Helge Schütz

“We started the game well, we scored first and then we just relaxed a bit and gave them a few chances, and at this level you cant afford to do that because they are very clinical,” he added.

“At half time we were still in the game with the score at 4-4, but then we just struggled to score and we can’t defend the whole game, we have to put it away,” he said. 

“You can’t win games if you dont score, you can’t defend the whole time. So we need to look at that and see how we can minimise their opportunities and maximise our own. We will see what we did wrong so that we can correct and take it forward,” he added. 

Namibia started like a house on fire, taking the lead through a Dakota Hansen field goal, but Belgium soon equalised through Mallory Magnant. 

Namibia, however, regained the lead through a short corner by JP Britz, but Philippe Simar once again equalised with a field goal. 

Namibia continued to attack and after winning another short corner Britz once again converted to put them 3-2 ahead at the end of the first quarter. 

Jivanka Kruger celebrates her goal against Australia. Photo: Helge Schütz

Simar scored his second field goal early in the second quarter, and then completed his hattrick from a short corner to put Belgium in the lead for the first time. 

Namibia, however, struck back through a Liam Hermanus field goal and with the teams tied at 4-4 going into the halftime break the match was still wide open. 

Belgium upped their pressure in the second half and took the lead through a Gaetan Dykmans short corner early in the fourth quarter. 

Maximilian Langer made it 6-4 with a field goal shortly after, while another short corner by Tanguy Zimmer in the last minute gave Belgium a rather flattering 7-4 win. 

Namibia certainly matched them especially in the first half and they will draw inspiration from this performance ahead of their next match against Trinidad and Tobago tomorrow. 

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