Windhoek—Namibia’s senior national women’s hockey team is facing an uphill battle in the ongoing African Hockey Road to Paris 2024 qualifiers, which are being held in Pretoria, South Africa. According to NAMPA, the championship serves as the qualifying event for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and features seven women’s teams divided into two pools—Pools A and B.

Namibia is in Pool B, competing against Zambia, Kenya, and Ghana. In their opening match on Sunday, the team lost 1-2 against Ghana. Their second match, held on Monday against Zambia, also ended in a 2-3 defeat.

In the match against Zambia, the Zambian team took the lead in the first quarter with a goal from Martha Kalomo, who scored eight minutes into the game. The second quarter saw no goals from either side. Carol Nakombe extended Zambia’s lead in the 36th minute during the third quarter. However, Namibia showed resilience as Tisha Semedo scored a goal in the 37th minute, followed by Adoré Meyer who equalized in the 47th minute. Christine Kaluba scored the decisive goal for Zambia in the 50th minute.

Following these two losses, Namibia currently sits at the bottom of Pool B with zero points from two matches played. Kenya leads the pool with three points from one game, with Ghana and Zambia following in second and third place, respectively.