SA teams qualify for Olympics
2007-07-22 17:25
Nairobi - South Africa's men's and women's field hockey teams both claimed berths in next year's Beijing Olympic Games following their victories in the African qualifying tournament in Nairobi on Sunday.
The men's team overcame archrivals Egypt 2-1 in the final while the women's side secured their berth by thrashing hosts Kenya 5-0.
In the men's final, Egypt were the first to score through Sameh Metwaly after 34 minutes but South Africa equalised five minutes later when Emile Smith capitalised on an Egyptian defensive blunder.
Geoff Abbot maintained his scoring form of the tournament when he snatched the winning goal in the 64th minute.
With just one team qualifying automatically for Beijing from the tournament for Africa, Egypt and Kenya will have to play an additional qualifying tournament later this year for another chance.