Favourites clinch national lawn bowls titles

By: STAFF REPORTER

THE 35th edition of the National Lawn Bowls Championships came to an end last Saturday.

After seven action-packed days of competition, the outstanding players were crowned champions at the Eros Bowling Club near the Safari Court Hotel in Windhoek.
On Friday, Diana Viljoen of the coastal Rossmund Bowling Club and Will Esterhuizen from TransNamib Bowling Club were victorious in the prestigious Champion of Champions category.
Esterhuizen, who triumphed in that event for the third time in a row, also managed to take the honours in the men’s singles.
The best female player overall was Sheena du Toit from the host club, who defeated the Windhoek Country Club’s Marie van der Merwe in a tightly contested final. The doubles title was taken by the father-son-combination of Douw and Jurie Calitz, while Heleen Rust and Erna Muller formed the most successful ladies pair.
Willie Esterhuysen, Johan Jacobs and Otto Krauhenbull set the pace in the triplet category. Among the female competitors, Jean Joubert, Sheena du Toit and Lesley Vermeulen were in a class of their own.
The four-man-team of Tollie Cronje, Ewald Vermeulen, Piet Appollis and Axel Krauhenbull clinched the trophy in the elite discipline of the championships.
Jean Joubert, Sheena du Toit, Lesley Vermeulen and Mandie Steenkamp accomplished this feat in the women’s competition.
André Campbell and Caryl Andreas were awarded prizes for the personalities of the tournament, whereas Jurie Calitz and Heleen Rust convinced the judging panel with their performances on the green to claim the top player titles.
“The youngsters showed promising performances and made clear that Namibian lawn bowls has a bright future,” said Heiko Diehl, the managing director of Proactive Sports Marketing and Management, who joined forces with the Namibian Bowling Association to develop the sport.
Diehl sees a lot of potential to grow the sport in the country.
During the championships the Namibian Bowling Association held its annual general meeting where Ewald Vermeulen was confirmed as president.
The other board members are vice president Sandy Joubert as well as Carel Gouws (secretary), Ellen Geyser (treasurer), Desmond van der Smit (director of competitions), Dave Hutchins (development officer) and Lesley Vermeulen (athletes’ representative).

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