Ghana lose out on Rio Olympics

South Africa have won the 2015 women’s Greenfields African Hockey Championship after defeating Ghana in the final game of the round-robin to finish top of the standings.

Goals from Jade Mayne in the seventh minute, Dirkie Chamberlain in the 15th and Lilian du Plessis in the 31st minute sealed a 3-0 victory for South Africa in front of their home fans at the event held in Randburg, Johannesburg, South Africa.

This was South Africa’s sixth win from six games, with the team finishing this year’s Championship undefeated.

As a result, the African continental champions will be invited to participate at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in accordance with the FIH Rio 2016 Qualification System for the Olympic hockey events, approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

This System states that after the completion of the last Continental Championship, FIH will communicate in writing the confirmation of qualification to the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and National Association of each qualified team within 14 days of the conclusion of the competition. The NOCs will then have 14 days to confirm if they wish to use these quota places.

In this instance, the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee is responsible for accepting or declining the invitation.

To date, 11 women’s teams have qualified through the FIH Qualification System for Rio 2016. They include Korea, qualified as Asian Games champions, USA as Pan Am Games champions, Great Britain as European champions (qualification through England’s victory at the EuroHockey Championships 2015), Australia as Oceania champions and China, Germany, Argentina, Netherlands, New Zealand, India and Japan through the Hockey World League Semi-Finals.