The South African women’s hockey team thrashed the United States 7-0 in its final pool match at the London Olympic Games. It was the South Africans’ first in five matches to finish second from the bottom in Group B. The Proteas were in an unforgiving mood, scoring four goals in the first half. Goals in the second half by Tarryn Bright, Pietie Coetzee and Dirkie Chamberlain completed an emphatic win over the United States. The team will now go into a play-off match for ninth and 10th place with their opposition, yet to be confirmed. The South Africans are on course for their best Olympics finish ever, if they manage a second victory at the global showpiece. Meanwhile, Adam van Koeverden of Canada was the fastest qualifier for the 1 000 metre K-1 final at the Olympic regatta. He will look to avenge his disappointing eighth-place finish at the Beijing Games when he lines up for the final on Wednesday.
On the medals table, Team SA is in 13th spot with three gold and one silver medal.
Max Hoff of Germany will be his rival for gold after winning the second semi-final, just a second slower than the time set by Van Koeverden. Defending champion Tim Brabants of Britain only scraped through by less than five-hundreths of a second. On the medals table, Team SA is in 13th spot with three gold and one silver medal. Further reports indicate that the South African spirit is alive and well in London. The Sports Department is hosting a cocktail party tonight to celebrate the country’s success so far at the 2012 Olympic Games. In another matter, the SA Olympic governing body, Sascoc, has dismissed allegations that swimmer Roland Schoeman was denied financial support. The four-time Olympian celebrated a personal victory after finishing sixth in the free-style final at the weekend. Schoeman says he has not been funded at all in the past year and a half. He insists that he could have performed better at the Olympics if he’d been supported, but Sascoc’s Tubby Reddy says this is not the case.
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