Bowls team puts effort at tourney
Bowls pair champions Douw Calitz (left) and Will Esterhuizen.
The competition, widely considered the most competitive on the African continent, was held from 6 to 13th September in Jwaneng, Botswana. With Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, Kenya, hosts Botswana and favourites South Africa in the mix, the Namibian teams, both men’s and women’s, faced some stiff competition. The most outstanding performance came from the men’s pair’s team, comprising Will Esterhuizen and Douw Calitz. Their biggest test came when they faced their South African arch rivals but it was Esterhuizen and Calitz that eventually managed to keep an upper hand, defeating their counterparts with 16:14. The Namibian women’s pair’s team also made huge strides the pair of Lesley and Marietjie du Preez made their presence felt throughout the tournament to eventually clinch the bronze medal.
The women’s good run continued when their fours team of Diana Viljoen, Sheena du Toit, Lesley Vermuelen and Anjuleen Viljoen also clinched a bronze medal after having presented themselves in fine form throughout the tournament.
The fourth medal, also bronze, came courtesy of the men’s four’s team. Will Esterhuizen, Douw Calitz, Steven Peake and Axel Krahenbuhl while the first place went to a strong Zimbabwe team.
Thanks to some great bowls, the women managed to secure the third place in the overall standing. Although Esterhuizen and Calitz took home the first place, on the overall country ranking the men’s team could not make the podium and had to settle for fourth place.
