Namibia excel at SACD squash tourney 

Namibia excelled at the South African Country Districts squash tournament in Polokwane, Limpopo over the weekend, winning a gold and a bronze medal. 

Competing in the A division, or the South African Country Districts tournament, Namibia’s A team won the bronze medal after beating Boland 4-1 in the third place play-off match. 

In the group matches Namibia beat Mpumulanga and Limpopo, but lost to North West’s A and B teams.

It was Namibia’s first medal in the competition since they won gold in 2013. 

Namibia’s fifth-ranked player, Janre Olivier remained unbeaten throughout the tournament, winning all five his matches, while Namibia’s third-ranked player Emil Dorgeloh won four and lost only one match. 

Namibia’s fourth-ranked player Steven Berry won three matches and lost two, while Namibia’s second ranked player Le-Hugo van Rooyen won three and lost two matches.

Namibia’s top-ranked player Max Endjala, however, found the going tough, losing all five his matches against the top seeds of their opponents. 

In the bronze medal match Namibia won four of their five matches against Boland. Van Rooyen beat Conrad Janse van Rensburg 3-0, Dorgeloh beat Rigardt van Wyk 3-0, Berry beat Dameon Stoddart 3-0 and Olivier beat Jans van Wyk 3-0. 

Endjala, however, lost a tough four-setter to Boland’s number one Luke van Vuuren, going down 11-9, 11-7, 11-13, 11-5.

In the B division, or the South African Country Festival category, Namibia’s B team made a clean sweep to win the gold medal. 

They beat Mpumulanga, Boland, Vaal Triangle and three teams from Limpopo to win the title. 

They remained unbeaten throughout the tournament with Namibia’s top seed Angelo Titus winning all six his matches, the second seed Immanuel Amorongo winning six matches, the third seed Abdul Gester winning six matches, and the fourth seed Nelson Herunga winning six matches.