THE women’s hockey national team has been eliminated from the 2024 Oman FIH Women’s five-a-side World Cup after enduring a torrid time in the competition.

The team has suffered three consecutive defeats, the latest of those coming yesterday at the hands of Australia who came out 3-2 winners.

In the opening Group A fixture, Zambia suffered a 9-1 defeat at the hands of South Africa, before enduring another painful 9-0 defeat at Ukraine.

Having been eliminated already from the World Cup race, the Floyd Chomba-drilled side will try to console themselves by winning the Challenge Cup.

Speaking during the post-match, Chomba applauded his girls for their performance despite losing.

“It was a big game facing Australia, they are a powerhouse of hockey. They were second-ranked and that meant a lot of pressure on us. The girls fought and created a lot of chances. They played well and we are happy with the performance despite losing. We have picked up valuable lessons from the games played so far and we hope to build on the experience going forward,” said Chomba.

“The motivation has gone up after today’s game. We shall go in hard for the Challenge Cup. Sadly, we fell short in the medal brackets. I think lack of exposure and competitive competition affected us in this competition”.

On the pitch, Jammie Zimmerman fired Australia in front as early as the third minute with a nine-yard shot but their celebrations were cut short three minutes later, as Zambia levelled matters through Carol Nakombe.

Zimmerman restored Australia’s lead in the 25th- minute from the spot, before Dooley Madeline extended the lead to 3-1 a minute later from the spot.

Zambia pulled one back through Loveness Mudenda in the 29th minute.

By press time yesterday, Zambia was scheduled to play Fiji Islands in the Challenge Cup.