Cohen, SKW 1 defend fistball titles at coast

THE season-opening fistball tournament saw 18 teams competing for honours in perfect weather conditions at Swakopmund over the weekend.

As it was the case last season, SKW showed from the beginning that they are again hot favourites for the ‘A’ league 2006 season. Both the first and second team won all their preliminary group games as well as the semi-finals and faced each other in the final.SKW 1 raced to a five-point advantage, but SKW 2 slowly closed the gap and won the first set 20:14.The second set was a one-sided affair, as SKW 1 showed no mercy and real class and won 20:11, so a third and final set had to determine the winner.Unfortunately, SKW2’s main spiker Michael Baas got injured in the last set.The game produced some excitement in the last set and saw SKW 1 emerging as winners and in the process took revenge for the loss in their league title final last year.SKW 1 were also winners of the season-opening tournament last year.Third was Swakop with the win over Cohen 1.In the ‘B’ league, the rejuvenated DTS club fielded three teams and managed to reach the final with a win over the SKW women’s team in the semi-final.Cohen 3 won their semi-final against Cohen 4.The B league final was tense and was also played over three sets, with Cohen winning the third and final set and defending their title successfully.The real stars in the final were the two youngsters in the Cohen team, Arno Gustafson and Christine Wahl, both still under 15 years, who played their hearts out and thrilled the spectators.The under-15 league was determined in round-robin games, and SKW A won all the games.The chairman of the Fistball Association of Namibia, Harald Fulle, said the highlight was the three-set game between Cohen and SKW A.”It was the skills and determination by the youngsters that kept the spectators on their feet, with the main spiker from SKW A, Florian Allers, as the real future prospect in their midst,” he said.The day was concluded at the SFC with the price-giving and braai.The 2006 fistball season starts on March 11 in Windhoek.Both the first and second team won all their preliminary group games as well as the semi-finals and faced each other in the final.SKW 1 raced to a five-point advantage, but SKW 2 slowly closed the gap and won the first set 20:14.The second set was a one-sided affair, as SKW 1 showed no mercy and real class and won 20:11, so a third and final set had to determine the winner.Unfortunately, SKW2’s main spiker Michael Baas got injured in the last set.The game produced some excitement in the last set and saw SKW 1 emerging as winners and in the process took revenge for the loss in their league title final last year.SKW 1 were also winners of the season-opening tournament last year.Third was Swakop with the win over Cohen 1.In the ‘B’ league, the rejuvenated DTS club fielded three teams and managed to reach the final with a win over the SKW women’s team in the semi-final.Cohen 3 won their semi-final against Cohen 4.The B league final was tense and was also played over three sets, with Cohen winning the third and final set and defending their title successfully.The real stars in the final were the two youngsters in the Cohen team, Arno Gustafson and Christine Wahl, both still under 15 years, who played their hearts out and thrilled the spectators.The under-15 league was determined in round-robin games, and SKW A won all the games.The chairman of the Fistball Association of Namibia, Harald Fulle, said the highlight was the three-set game between Cohen and SKW A.”It was the skills and determination by the youngsters that kept the spectators on their feet, with the main spiker from SKW A, Florian Allers, as the real future prospect in their midst,” he said.The day was concluded at the SFC with the price-giving and braai.The 2006 fistball season starts on March 11 in Windhoek.