The Champions Challenge is around the corner and the South African Mens hockey side have a chance to qualify for the Olympics again. SASCOC earlier ruled that the African Qualifier was not challengi
ng enough and instead said that the South African men must compete against some of the stronger teams in the World to qualify. So despite qualifying already in terms of FIH rulings, the South African men must make the final of the hosted Champions Challenge to qualify for the Olympics.
In a build up to the Champions Challenge, All Things Jabu is canvassing some much deserved support for the boys and over the next 3 days will have interviews with Lloyd Madsen, Justin Reid-Ross and captain Austin Smith. Firstly we will have a detailed look at the Champions Challenge.
The Venue: Randburg Astro (Johannesburg)
The Teams (Ranking in Brackets):
Pool A
South Africa (13)
Belgium (12)
India (10)
Poland (9)
Pool B
Canada (8)
Argentina (11)
Malaysia (15)
Japan (14)
The South African Squad (Caps in brackets)
Andrew Cronje (77)
Brendon Botes (GK) (31)
Clinton Panther (8)
Gareth Carr (83)
Ian Haley (55)
Jacques Le Roux (GK) (2)
Jonathan Robinson (17)
Julian Hykes (41)
Justin Reid-Ross (59)
Lance Louw (27)
Lloyd Madsen (38)
Lloyd Norris-Jones (57)
Miguel da Graca (29)
Rhett Halkett (32)
Ricky West (7)
Taine Paton (19)
Timothy Drummond (12)
Wade Paton (38)
Austin Smith (c) (74)
Fixtures:
| November 26th, 2011 | ||||||
| 1 | Pool B | 11:00am | CAN – MAS | – | Upcoming | |
| 2 | Pool B | 1:00pm | ARG – JPN | – | Upcoming | |
| 3 | Pool A | 3:00pm | IND – BEL | – | Upcoming | |
| 4 | Pool A | 5:00pm | RSA – POL | – | Upcoming | |
| November 27th, 2011 | ||||||
| 5 | Pool B | 11:00am | ARG – CAN | – | Upcoming | |
| 6 | Pool B | 1:00pm | MAS – JPN | – | Upcoming | |
| 7 | Pool A | 3:00pm | BEL – POL | – | Upcoming | |
| 8 | Pool A | 5:00pm | RSA – IND | – | Upcoming | |
| November 29th, 2011 | ||||||
| 9 | Pool B | 11:00am | CAN – JPN | – | Upcoming | |
| 10 | Pool B | 1:00pm | MAS – ARG | – | Upcoming | |
| 11 | Pool A | 3:00pm | IND – POL | – | Upcoming | |
| 12 | Pool A | 5:00pm | BEL – RSA | – | Upcoming | |
Knockout matches start on December the 1st.
Get down to Randburg Astro to see some of the best hockey players in the World. Tickets are R50, but this gives you access to all the games on the day. Follow all the action at the official website http://www.champschallenge.co.za