One of the best fightbacks in the history of the Varsity Tournament will be an excellent way to describe the performance of the Tuks women's hockey team.

After the defending Varsity Champions lost their first three games, few would have bet on Tuks qualifying to play in the semi-finals, but there seems to be some truth in the saying about nothing is a done deal until a certain "Fat Lady had sung". 

This afternoon at 17:00 in Potchefstroom Tuks will be playing Maties in the first semi-final. Kovsies and Pukke will be contesting the other semi-final.

Inky Zondi (Tuks head coach) is never one to take credit for the success that any of the teams he coaches achieve, but it can't be helped to think that he was the instigator that got the players never to lose confidence.

Natalie Esteves, who captained the Tuks to win the Varsity Tournament in 2017, rates Zondi as one of the best coaches.

"I cannot explain what Inky has as a coach, but he can get people to believe in him and to play for him, the style he wants us to play. It is just the way he is with his charisma. He is also very innovative as a coach who is always looking to bring something new to the game. 

"Inky is not one to panic as a coach. At times when the things were not going our way on the field, he knew what to say and how to say it."

Zondi admits that he and his players had a long and hard talk after their third successive defeat. They managed to score only four goals and conceded ten which meant that Tuks were second from the bottom of the log.

One of Zondi's biggest frustrations was that the players seemed not to be able to finish off what they started. 

"The reality of sport is that if you don't convert on the scoring opportunities you create, you set up yourself up for failure. I also felt that our play on defence needed to improve. It meant we went back to the basics of playing good hockey." 

It worked. In their last five games, Tuks scored 19 points and conceded only 6 winning four games in succession. Kovsies were the only team who managed to outwit the Tuks defence to score.

Marizen Marais who also plays for the Proteas has been a class act throughout the tournament. Hardly a game has gone by in which she had not scored at least one goal.

Esteves who has made a comeback for Tuks has also been in the thick of things. She is arguably one of the best drag-flick players of the tournament. Unfortunately, her aggressive approach to the game has come with a prize. During Saturday's game against Kovsies, she took a severe blow to her jaw which led to her not being able to play against Wits yesterday. 

According to Zondi, he has still got to decide whether he is going to risk playing her in this afternoon's semi-final.

The Tuks coach is hesitant to make bold predictions.

"Playing Maties is never easy. We certainly will have to be at our best from the very first second of the game to the very last, and then there are still no guarantees." 

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