Egypt, South Africa to play for 5th-6th places

Egypt and South Africa will play-off for the fifth-sixth places in the men's hockey event at the Afro-Asian Games.

At the Gachibowli Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday, a first-half goal by Sameh Mohamed gave Egypt a 1-0 victory over Ghana while South Africa whipped Nigeria 4-0.

Nigeria, who had surprised all by coming up with spirited showings against Pakistan and India in the league matches earlier in the competition, were expected to make a brave attempt to register their first victory in the tournament. But South Africa hardly gave anything away and sealed the match in the first-half itself by slamming home three goals in a span of 13 minutes.

The South Africans had to wait for 12 minutes to opening their account. Taking advantage of a defensive lapse, Craig Fulton scored the first goal, which helped them step up the onslaught which resulted in two more quick goals.

Gareth Carr converted a penalty-corner in the 15th minute while Steve Philips made it 3-0, scoring a field goal 10 minutes later.

A 56th minute goal by Denzil Dolley completed the formalities for the winners, who will meet Egypt in the classification match, slated for Friday.

In the earlier match, Ghana, looking for their first point in the event, suffered a setback early in the match when Mohamed sounded the board in the 11th minute. Though they tried hard for the equaliser, the Egypt defenders did well to hold on.

Pakistan take on Asian Games winners Korea in the first semi-final while India and Malaysia battle it out in the second later in the day.