SA hockey stars shine on world stage

Hockey never gets much of a plug in South Africa but two of our players have managed to qualify for the Men’s and women’s World All Star teams which is a fantastic achievement considering that hockey is an amateur sport in this country.

Congratulations to the SA Men’s captain Austin Smith, and joint women’s captain Marsha Marescia who were chosen by global voting on the official world hockey website.

The full teams are below:

Men’s and women’s World All Star teams

Men: Salman Akbar (PAK),Pol Amat (ESP), Simon Child (NZL), Jamie Dwyer (AUS), Moritz Furste (GER), Myung Ho Lee (KOR), Ashley Jackson (ENG), Mark Knowles (AUS), Barry Middleton (ENG), Maximilian Muller (GER), Teun de Nooijer (NED), Eddie Ockenden (AUS), Jong Ho Seo (KOR), Rob Short (CAN), Prabhjot Singh (IND), Austin Smith (RSA), Taeke Taekema (NED), Christopher Zeller (GER). Coaches: Ric Charlesworth (AUS) & Markus Weise (GER)

Women: Naomi van As (NED), Luciana Aymar (ARG), Tina Bachmann (GER), Noel Barrionuevo (ARG), Madonna Blyth (AUS). Tony Cronk (AUS), Casey Eastham (AUS), Gemma Flynn (NZL), Baorong Fu (CHN), Surinder Kaur (IND), Natascha Keller (GER), Yibo Ma (CHN), Marsha Marescia (RSA), Miyuki Nakagawa (JPN), Maartje Paumen (NED), Helen Richardson (ENG), Janneke Schopman (NED), Belen Succi (ARG), Coaches: Carlos Retegui (ARG) & Frank Murray (AUS)