The DTS Liqui Fruit Beach Volleyball Winter Classic tournament saw a fine turnout with close to 40 teams in action at the DTS Club on Saturday.
The event was the first of the DTS Liqui Fruit Beach Volleyball series and saw teams competing for prize money of N$20 000 in the senior and u19 men and women’s categories in the two-a-side competition, as well as in the four-a-side social category.
A total of 13 teams competed in the senior men’s category where the
Krafft brothers, Max and Jura, continued their fine form by winning the gold medal.
Last year they won the gold medal at the Africa u21 Championships, and represented Namibia at the u21 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Mexico, while they have also won two bronze medals on the Zone Six Beach Volleyball Tour that is currently underway.
On Saturday they comfortably won the gold medal after a straight sets (21-7, 21-12) victory against Simeon Ndaxula and Teodor Thomas in the final.
The bronze medal was shared by Panashe Chiguta and Kudakwashe Mahachi, and Aloisius Ishitile and Messah Kambala.
The senior women’s category saw 11 teams competing, with Maike van Doorn and Carmen Curschmann beating Pia Luck and Nadia Bohm 21-18, 21-19 in the final to win the gold medal, while Albertina Mathew and Lameesh Haris came third to claim the bronze medal.
Ten teams competed in the junior men’s u19 category with Tumeretino Lebereki and Lazarus Kamati winning the gold medal after a tough three setter (21-19, 12-21, 15-13) in the final against Leander Muller and Felix Stamer.
Matheus Nahenda and Nathanael Ndemukulunga won the bronze medal.
Five teams competed in the junior women u19 category with Isabella Dafner and Lena Putzler winning the gold medal, while Lisa Hess and Stella Hamm won silver and Daria Stoessel and Hadassah Swartz bronze.
The OTF team won the gold medal in the four-a-side social category, while Lefa Legends won silver and Smack Attack bronze.
Heiko Kesselmann of the DTS Beach Volleyball Club said:
“DTS Beach Volleyball extends its sincere gratitude to Liqui Fruit for their continued commitment to advancing the development of beach volleyball in Namibia. We also wish to thank Joachim Schuckmann at Namibia Beach Volleyball Hub for providing the registration and scheduling platform. We are equally appreciative of the players, coaches, parents, supporters, and volunteers whose passion and effort played a vital role in making the 2026 Winter Classic such a successful day.”
“With plenty more exhilarating moments on the sand to come, we look forward to further growing the sport and elevating the presence of beach volleyball throughout the country,” he added.
