Fistball champions crowned
The third place play off in the Bank Windhoek National B league was won by the Swakopmund based SFC 2 after a thrilling two hour match. Rainer Kaber (left) and Andre Meng are in action for the coastal side.
It took SKW 2 the five sets to win the final of the Bank Windhoek National A league against their club counterparts SKW 1. The team of Namibia’s most capped international player, Michael Baas, dominated the game and never gave their opponents a chance. SKW 1, who qualified for the final due to a good and consistent performance throughout the season, never found their rhythm as they had to change their line-up in the attack.
SKW 2 had a good and solid defence, as well as the strong attacking ability of Baas, who set a personal milestone by securing his twentieth Namibian Fistball league title. With this win SKW qualified to represent Namibia at the World Club Championships that will be played in Windhoek next year.
The day started off with a bang when Cohen FC included two players from South Africa in their line up for the semi final match against SKW 2. Thorsten Schmidt-Dumont and Helmo Minz, who are both former Namibian U18 players currently studying in South Africa, returned to Namibia especially for the league final. The two players added class and versatility to the Cohen FC side, but this was not enough against a motivated SKW 2 side which had set its sights firmly on qualifying for the final. Nevertheless Cohen secured third spot.
The dominance of Cohen FC 3 in the Bank Windhoek National B league continued when the Windhoek-based team won their third straight league title. Cohen had the insurmountable Andreas Minz in defence, while Spiker PV Steinkopff impressed with his accurate attack play. Their opponents in the championship final, SKW 3, had a hard time against the defending champions who took the title with a straight 5: 0 set win.
Third place in the Bank Windhoek National B league went to SFC 2 from Swakopmund. They, however, had to pull out all the stops in their quest for the bronze medal to beat DTS 4:3 in a grueling seven set game. The game took more than two hours to finish with neither team managing to gain the upper hand. Although they were on the losing end of the match, DTS players were satisfied with the result since this is only the team’s second season in the Bank Windhoek Namibian Fistball Championship.
Although the Bank Windhoek Fistball league has been decided, the Namibian Fistball season is not over yet. On 3 November, the Bank Windhoek National Fistball Cup will be played in Swakopmund.
