THE Under-21 hockey women team representing the country at the Junior World Cup in Santiago, Chile had their last warm-up match on Tuesday when they engaged France ahead of the competition that begins on Thursday.

The team left the country on Saturday for the tournament scheduled to run until December 4.

Zimbabwe had their first warm up match against South Africa on Monday night and lost 2-0. They went on to play France on Tuesday and drew 1-1 in their last warm-up match.

Fitness coach, Jenna Palmer believes the matches presented them with the chance to settle their nerves in a match situation before the actual competition takes-off.

Zimbabwe have a date against United States on Thursday.

“It was a fantastic confidence boost for the girls. This (match against France) is our last practice match before the first Junior World Cup game against USA on Thursday.

“We will have a short practice session tomorrow to work out the finer details of set plays such as 16 yard hit outs, shutdown structure and short corners and then the girls will be resting so that we avoid potential injury,” said Palmer.

After Thursday’s match, Zimbabwe will then face Korea on Friday and completes the pool matches against Netherlands on Sunday.

Pools

Pool A: Netherlands, USA, Korea, Zimbabwe.

Pool B: Argentina, France, Germany, Japan.

Pool C: Australia, Chile, England, South Africa.

Pool D: Belgium, China, New Zealand, Spain.