SA stars ready to switch to quick pace at Cup

Four of South Africa ’ s key players at the Indoor Hockey World Cup in Pretoria from Sunday to February 11 will have to switch to the short format quickly after recently competing at the outdoor World Cup in India.

Captain Jethro Eustice admitted on Wednesday that he, Ryan Julius and the Cassiem brothers, Mustapha and Dayaan, faced a rare challenge.

“I think the difference is normally we’re used to going from an African Cup indoor to an outdoor series and then the level’s not as intense.

“Maybe this will be a bit of a tester.

“There’s no easy way to solve this.

“I don’t think there’s any other nation doing what we’re doing playing two World Cups in four weeks, but we’ve seen the guys manage the transition,” Eustice said.

The SA men’s and women’s teams are looking to break new ground on home soil at the sixth edition of the 12team, six-a-side tournament.

Women’s captain Jess O’Connor hopes they can make the quarterfinals, having finished ninth in the 2015 edition. That is unfamiliar territory for the men.

The outdoor side went to India with the ambition of making the quarterfinals, but key moments in key matches cost them.

“We did achieve really good things,” Eustice said.

“We’re putting ourselves in a position where we are judging ourselves on the margins of error rather than how far behind we are.”

Rosenberg said there was no hangover from the disappointments of India.

The women open their account against Austria on Sunday morning, while the men face Australia, who finished fourth in 2018.