Breaking: Pharaohs Invented Hockey

Every now and then we are caught off guard by a piece of Egyptian news that we were clueless about. Not only were we unaware that Egyptians are favoured at the Hockey World League, but even more surprisingly that field hockey finds its roots in Ancient Egypt.

Field hockey turns out to be one of history's oldest ball games, dating as far back as 2,500 BCE. There is ample evidence to suggest that it was not only popular with Egyptians, but also with the Romans and Greeks. The oldest evidence of field hockey was found in the tomb of Kheti in Beni Hasan and shows two players with crooks in a large ball.

Fast forward to present day, and you can find our Egypt's men's team making our Pharaoh forefathers proud entering the first round of the Hockey World League in Nairobi, Kenya as favourites. Egypt's men's team proved a sport broadcaster right by winning all three of their first round opponents, easily defeating Kenya, Ghana, and Tanzania. The wins officially mean that Egypt will be moving on to Round Two alongside victors Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, and Oman.

The four nations will now compete in Round Two with the hope of making it to Round Three, where the Rio 2016 Olympic qualification and spots in the Hockey World League Final is up for grabs.

The men's Round Two matches are scheduled to take place in Singapore on January 17 to 25, the United States from February 28 to March 8 and South Africa on March 7 to 15 next year.

Now that we know that we invented the sports and continue to excel at it, you can rest assured that we here at CairoScene will be following their progress and updating you with all the crooked action to come.