NAMIBIA’s men’s trips team has won a bronze medal at the World Bowls Atlantic Championships currently underway in Cardiff, Wales, while all their competing disciplines have qualified for the 2020 World Bowls Championships so far.
The Atlantic championships is a qualifying tournament for the World Bowls Championships with the top 12 teams in each discipline progressing to the global event.
Namibia’s men’s trips team of Willie Esterhuizen, Johan Jacobs and Piet Appollis won a bronze medal in the men’s trips division after losing their semifinal encounter to South Africa.
Namibia came second in their group and qualified for the semifinals after narrowly defeating Jersey 14-12 in a playoff match.
In the semifinals they lost 20-13 to a strong South African side, who had won their group, while Scotland beat England 15-14 in the other semifinal.
South Africa went on to win the gold medal after beating England 15-14 in a close final, and since there was no play-off for third place, both Namibia and England won bronze medals.
It was the second time in a year that Namibia had won a bronze medal in Cardiff. In July last year, Namibia competed in a ten-nation tournament which served as preparation for the Atlantic Rim tournament, and on that occasion, Namibia’s men’s fours team won a bronze medal.
In the men’s pairs competition, the young Namibian team of 17-year-old JP Fouche and 20-year-old Cabous Olivier, finished fourth overall in their group. They started off with a bang, winning their first seven matches in a row, before losing to Ireland, England and South Africa, and then winning their last match against Spain.
They narrowly missed out on qualifying for the play-offs after finishing fourth out of 12 countries, and just behind third-placed Ireland on shot difference.
“The two youngsters played some brilliant bowls that their supporters at home could also share, since some of their matches were live streamed on Facebook. It bodes very well for the future of Namibian bowls that we have two such talented bowlers moving up the ranks,” the Namibia Bowls Association said in a statement.
In the women’s section, Namibia had mixed fortunes.
In the singles competition, new cap Bianca Lewis won five matches and lost five to finish sixth overall and qualify for the World Bowls Championships.
Namibia’s fours team of Diana Viljoen, Amanda Steenkamp, Anjuleen Viljoen and Elzaan de Vries fared a bit better, winning five out of eight matches to finish to finish fourth in their section, thereby also qualifying for the world championships.
The second week of the tournament has already begun with the women playing trips and pairs, and the men, singles and fours.
