SA teams aim for Dato Mirnawan Cup finals
The South African u17 boys’ and girls’ teams will have their sights set on securing places in the finals of the Dato Mirnawan Cup when they return to turf action on Saturday.
The international tournament, which is being hosted in Kuala Lumpur, wraps up with the title games being played on Sunday morning.
Both South African teams are in with a shot at playing for the titles, but they’ll need positive results on Saturday to make it there.
Their recent performances have been promising, with both sides performing better than the teams of 2024.
Boys’ Recap
The boys’ outfit, led by Mohlodi Maseko, and his deputies, Andile Lembethe and Logan Lackey, has impressed immensely.
In their opening match of the tournament, they defeated the Australian Crocs 2-0, thanks to goals by Maseko and Thandanani Zuma.
Their second match against Malaysia Tigers was testing and required the team to dig deep after going down by two goals in the opening chukka.
South Africa, though, turned it around and secured a 4-2 victory, courtesy of a fourth chukka hat-trick by Keegan de Jager, and an earlier strike from Jacques van Dyk.
They had a rest day before facing arguably their toughest challenge, Malaysia Speedy. Ahead of the clash, the hosts were unbeaten, and they had South Africa on the back foot went they took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
De Jager, though, pulled one back for the visitors before the hosts made it 2-1. Soon after that, Maseko was on the scoresheet again, and it ended 2-2.
On Thursday, South Africa bagged another win, defeating Queensland (Australia) 3-1 with goals from Martin de Bruyn, Zuma, and Maseko.
They’re currently second on the log behind Malaysia Speedy, with 10 points. Their final group match will be against Japan on Saturday at 10:00 SAST. A draw would be enough to secure South Africa’s place in Sunday’s final.
Girls’ Recap
The SA u17 girls, who arrived in Malaysia as underdogs, have displayed resilience to put themselves in with a shot at making the final.
At last year’s event, the team qualified for the bronze medal playoff, but they were defeated and had to settle for fourth place.
A lot has changed since then, though, and this year’s team, led by coach Natalie Esteves, has made its mark on the AstroTurf.
They endured a disappointing start to their campaign, losing 1-3 against Australia (Queensland) last Sunday, but they bounced back to beat the Australia Crocs 1-0, thanks to a strike by Holly Hofmeyr in the third chukka.
On Thursday, the South African side was made to work hard for a 2-2 draw with the Malaysia Tigers.
After opening the scoring early through Anjun Kazie, they surrendered the advantage. SA, though, continued to create goalscoring opportunities, which resulted in Jemma Ferreira netting her first goal of the tournament.
The Tigers kept fighting, however, and were able to breach the South African defensive line for a second time to grab a 2-2 draw.
The task is clear for South Africa: they need to beat the log leaders, Japan, in their final pool match to qualify for Sunday’s final.
Currently, South Africa is in third place, behind Japan and Queensland, with four points after three matches and a game in hand. They face Japan at 10:00 SAST.
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