Beach volleyball in third round

THE DTS/NHP beach volleyball tournament was held in Windhoek on Saturday and had a total of 20 teams – eight women’s teams, six men’s teams and six youth teams.

The teams competed in the third round of the beach volleyball season played at DTS in Olympia. The youth division saw 15 games played with Leander Schatz and Bjoern Pascheka winning without losing a single set.Moriz Beth and Jonathan Gurirab were the runners-up, with Michael Sickel and Jonathan Kuelbs third.Last year’s men’s champions, Mwita Sikopo and Rector Mbeha (seeded second) played the fourth-seeded team of Deon Cloete and Goddard Husselmann in the first semi-final.Sikopo and Mbeha won the first set 22-20, with Cloete and Husselmann coming back and winning the second set 21-14.In a close third set, Cloete and Husselmann showed their experience and won 15-12 and advanced to the finals.Here they faced the first-seeded team of Joel Matheus and Heiko Diehl, who won easily against Walter Farmer and John Beukes 2-0 in the second semi-final.Matheus and Diehl proved to be too strong for Cloete and Husselmann and won the final 21-8, 21-18.Third place went to Sikopo and Mbeha.The women’s seventh-seeded team of Lea Nambunga and Ruusa Aludhilo managed to reach the semi-finals for the first time and played against first seeds Wiebke Hoeritzauer and Antje Kesselmann.Hoeritzauer and Kesselmann were too strong and experienced and won 2-0 to advance to the finals.The second semi-final saw Anita Kinder and Katja Biesemann play against Simone von Wietersheim and Sabine Pampe.Kinder and Biesemann won 2-0 and qualified for the finals.Under floodlights, the final saw a 2-0 victory for tournament favourites Hoeritzauer and Kesselmann, who walked away with their second successive tournament title.Von Wietersheim and Pampe won third place.The next tournament will be played on August 2.The youth division saw 15 games played with Leander Schatz and Bjoern Pascheka winning without losing a single set.Moriz Beth and Jonathan Gurirab were the runners-up, with Michael Sickel and Jonathan Kuelbs third.Last year’s men’s champions, Mwita Sikopo and Rector Mbeha (seeded second) played the fourth-seeded team of Deon Cloete and Goddard Husselmann in the first semi-final.Sikopo and Mbeha won the first set 22-20, with Cloete and Husselmann coming back and winning the second set 21-14.In a close third set, Cloete and Husselmann showed their experience and won 15-12 and advanced to the finals.Here they faced the first-seeded team of Joel Matheus and Heiko Diehl, who won easily against Walter Farmer and John Beukes 2-0 in the second semi-final.Matheus and Diehl proved to be too strong for Cloete and Husselmann and won the final 21-8, 21-18.Third place went to Sikopo and Mbeha.The women’s seventh-seeded team of Lea Nambunga and Ruusa Aludhilo managed to reach the semi-finals for the first time and played against first seeds Wiebke Hoeritzauer and Antje Kesselmann.Hoeritzauer and Kesselmann were too strong and experienced and won 2-0 to advance to the finals.The second semi-final saw Anita Kinder and Katja Biesemann play against Simone von Wietersheim and Sabine Pampe.Kinder and Biesemann won 2-0 and qualified for the finals.Under floodlights, the final saw a 2-0 victory for tournament favourites Hoeritzauer and Kesselmann, who walked away with their second successive tournament title.Von Wietersheim and Pampe won third place.The next tournament will be played on August 2.