Tegan Fourie converted a late penalty stroke to give the South African women a 1-0 victory over Australia at the Indoor Hockey World Cup in Pretoria on Wednesday.
It was also their first win of the tournament, keeping them on track for what would be a first-ever quarterfinal appearance.
It all came down to Fourie who was shattered after the first match against Austria after her late attempt to draw the match was saved by the goalkeeper.
But on Thursday she redeemed herself with a superlative effort.
“I was a bit nervous but I knew what I had to do,” Fourie said afterwards. “I had thought through the process if I had to take another stroke because I knew there probably would be another opportunity and I had prepared myself mentally for that.
“I have missed a stroke before and then had to take another one and scored it so I knew what I had to do in that moment and I just calmed my nerves, slowed my breathing a bit and focused on what I needed to do.”
Standing over the ball she decided to aim at the right side.
“I’ve watched a lot of strokes throughout the tournament and a lot of the players have gone left and it's been saved multiple times so in that moment, I knew, OK, right’s the one I've got to go.
“Also I think just from a mental point of view I missed on the left ... I train on both sides so I know I can go in more than one corner so I thought I’ll back myself on the right.”
A victory against winless New Zealand in their final group match on Thursday (10.50am) should secure their spot in the quarterfinals, as long as the US don’t shock log leaders the Netherlands in the opening fixture of the day.
The South African men will also advance if they beat flamboyant Argentina on Friday (9.40am), after their hard-fought contest against Iran ended in a 4-4 draw.
Mustapha Cassiem again delivered a man-of-the-match performance, sinking three field goals and setting up brother Dayaan for the fourth goal.
He struck in the opening minute, but the Iranians hit back moments later through Amirmahdi Mirzakhani, and from then on the teams battled desperately for control.
This battle saw the South African players pitting their speed against the bulk of their opponents.
Twenty-four brutal minutes passed without a goal until Yaghoub Bahrami made the breakthrough in the third quarter through a penalty stroke awarded after a period of sustained pressure.
Cassiem equalised in the 28th minute, but Reza Norouzzadeh hit back seconds later to restore Iran’s lead at 3-2.
Conceding quick goals after scoring has been a problem for South Africa, but they finally got the balance right in the fourth quarter.
Mustapha and Dayaan produced a wonderful interchange with Mustapha delivering a back-pass for his sibling to score.
A minute later Mustapha netted again for a 4-3 lead.
Just when South Africa looked like they might achieve what would have been an impressive win, Bahrami drained another penalty stroke in the final minute to level the match.
“I think it's very emotional, obviously not getting a result against a top four nation where I feel like they got lucky,” said Mustapha.
“We didn't defend well enough.”
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Indoor Hockey World Cup
Tegan Fourie finds redemption as she gives SA women victory over Australia
SA men draw 4-4 with Iran
Image: SUPPLIED
Tegan Fourie converted a late penalty stroke to give the South African women a 1-0 victory over Australia at the Indoor Hockey World Cup in Pretoria on Wednesday.
It was also their first win of the tournament, keeping them on track for what would be a first-ever quarterfinal appearance.
It all came down to Fourie who was shattered after the first match against Austria after her late attempt to draw the match was saved by the goalkeeper.
But on Thursday she redeemed herself with a superlative effort.
“I was a bit nervous but I knew what I had to do,” Fourie said afterwards. “I had thought through the process if I had to take another stroke because I knew there probably would be another opportunity and I had prepared myself mentally for that.
“I have missed a stroke before and then had to take another one and scored it so I knew what I had to do in that moment and I just calmed my nerves, slowed my breathing a bit and focused on what I needed to do.”
Standing over the ball she decided to aim at the right side.
“I’ve watched a lot of strokes throughout the tournament and a lot of the players have gone left and it's been saved multiple times so in that moment, I knew, OK, right’s the one I've got to go.
“Also I think just from a mental point of view I missed on the left ... I train on both sides so I know I can go in more than one corner so I thought I’ll back myself on the right.”
A victory against winless New Zealand in their final group match on Thursday (10.50am) should secure their spot in the quarterfinals, as long as the US don’t shock log leaders the Netherlands in the opening fixture of the day.
The South African men will also advance if they beat flamboyant Argentina on Friday (9.40am), after their hard-fought contest against Iran ended in a 4-4 draw.
Mustapha Cassiem again delivered a man-of-the-match performance, sinking three field goals and setting up brother Dayaan for the fourth goal.
He struck in the opening minute, but the Iranians hit back moments later through Amirmahdi Mirzakhani, and from then on the teams battled desperately for control.
This battle saw the South African players pitting their speed against the bulk of their opponents.
Twenty-four brutal minutes passed without a goal until Yaghoub Bahrami made the breakthrough in the third quarter through a penalty stroke awarded after a period of sustained pressure.
Cassiem equalised in the 28th minute, but Reza Norouzzadeh hit back seconds later to restore Iran’s lead at 3-2.
Conceding quick goals after scoring has been a problem for South Africa, but they finally got the balance right in the fourth quarter.
Mustapha and Dayaan produced a wonderful interchange with Mustapha delivering a back-pass for his sibling to score.
A minute later Mustapha netted again for a 4-3 lead.
Just when South Africa looked like they might achieve what would have been an impressive win, Bahrami drained another penalty stroke in the final minute to level the match.
“I think it's very emotional, obviously not getting a result against a top four nation where I feel like they got lucky,” said Mustapha.
“We didn't defend well enough.”
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
READ MORE
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