Heartland Queens retains African hockey crown

By Ime Bassey
The 2011 Women Africa Hockey Cup for Club defending champions, Heartland Queens of Nigeria have retained their title as the tournament came to a close in Lusaka, Zambia last weekend.

The Owerri based Hockey side retained their crown beating Sunrise of Zimbabwe 5-1 in the final of a one-sided competition in which they won all matches played, scoring 43 goals and conceding only two.

Heartland had won last year’s tournament in Ghana, proving that the win in Ghana was not a fluke to reinforce their indomitable stance in African hockey.

Meanwhile, in the male event, Niger Flickers, one of Nigeria’s representatives failed to grab the bronze medal in the third place match against police of Kenya as they lost 3-1. Indomitable Sharkia Hockey Club of Egypt however claimed a record 20th Africa Cup for Club Champions Trophy with a 4-2 win over Strathmore University of Kenya.

With the baton passed to Zimbabwe where the 2012 edition will be hosted, the Executive Board of the African Hockey Federation also conveyed its congratulations to Sharkia and Heartlands for winning their respective competitions and to the organizers and the officiating officials for a good job well done.