By MICHAEL MIYOBA
HOCKEY 5s national team coach Floyd Chomba has described group B where Zambia has been placed alongside Australia, Ukraine and South Africa for the 2024 Hockey 5s World Cup as a fair group.
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Speaking after the draws held on Sunday evening by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) in Muscat, Chomba said Zambia will not underrate any team at the World Cup because all the teams will work hard to impress at the inaugural tournament in Oman.
Chomba said Zambia who qualified for the Inaugural World Cup after coming out third at the Africa Hockey 5s tournament in Egypt will fight hard to make the country proud at the World Cup.“We were anxiously waiting for the World Cup draws and we have just found out that we have been drawn [in the same group] with Australia, Ukraine and South Africa.
It is a good group. We don’t underrate anyone. Everyone will put in their best. This is the first of its kind, the first appearance at the world cup with Zambia team, the first world cup for the 5s format, so this is something big for us and we will go full force,” Chomba said.
Asked which teams he feels will give Zambia a tough time at the World Cup Chomba said; “We know Australia is a power nation when it comes to Hockey, they are better ranked than Zambia so we expect them to bring competition but with 5s being the first ever senior format anything can happen.
What we expect from the players is that they will give it their best and we expect them to progress from the group stages to the knock out stage and fight so hard for the semifinals.”Chomba noted the need for the team to have an international camp before the games in Oman to adequately prepare.
He said the team will have to train on a field similar to the fields in Oman to be ready for the World Cup.“We are really looking forward to the World Cup and for us what should happen, which is important, is to ensure that preparations are adequate.
We need to take the team out for camping as soon as possible because the field we have in Zambia is not matching the field we will be using at the World Cup. So, we would really be glad to go and camp outside of the country,” he said.Chomba appealed to all Zambians and the corporate World to support the team as it prepares for the games scheduled for January 24 to January 27, 2024.
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