Head coach of the Namibian women’s national indoor hockey team, Erwin Handura stated, his squad is nearly ready for the upcoming Indoor Hockey World Cup.
The highly anticipated competition is set to commence this week, with Namibia placed in Pool B alongside Ukraine, Czech Republic, Belgium, Kazakhstan, and Canada.
In an interview with SRSM, Handura, who held his team’s training camp in the Netherlands, shared that the squad had a productive preparation for the World Cup, as the team competed in several high-intensity games against local clubs in that country. He stated that they gained valuable lessons from these matches and made necessary adjustments to address their shortcomings.
“The team’s readiness, both mentally and physically, is at a high level, and we’re looking forward to our first match on Sunday,” Handura expressed confidently.
The team will start their journey in the tournament with a tie against Kazakhstan on February 5th and will go on to face Canada on the 6th, Ukraine on the 7th, and Czech Republic on the 9th.
Despite being satisfied with the team’s overall fitness, Handura acknowledged that they will need to make some final tweaks ahead of the tournament. However, he emphasized that he is confident in his team’s preparation and performance.
“The team is 90% ready for this competition. We will need to do some few adjustments ahead of the first encounter. But overall I am satisfied,” he added
Namibia’s women’s team qualified directly for the Indoor World Cup as the continental champions.
The event, initially scheduled to take place in Liege, Belgium in February 2022, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The sixth edition of the tournament, set to take place this year, will mark the first time it will be held outside of Europe.
