Namibia’s junior men (u19) and u17 men’s teams have been in great form at the European Inline Hockey Championships currently underway in Cittadella, Italy.
Namibia’s u19s finished sixth overall, while the u17s are currently on top of their group after winning their opening two matches.
In the junior men’s competition, Namibia got off to a slow start in the group stages, losing 5-3 to Switzerland and 8-1 to Spain.
This put them into the President’s Cup for the first round losers, where they rebounded with an 18-2 victory against Ireland, after leading 9-0 at half-time.
Vigo Bajorat led the way with six goals, while Enrique Miranda added five, and Lourens Borstlap and Sasha Guttzeit scored two each. Kandiwapa Schütt, Rigo Hellmich, and Sean Kirchner each contributed one goal.
The following day, they were even more impressive as they thrashed Belgium 21-4 after leading 7-2 at half-time.
Namibia’s goalscorers were Borstlap (6), Miranda (4), Abe van der Merwe (3), George Tjaahapi (2), Jac du Toit (2), and one each by Kirchner, Bajorat, Guttzeit, and Hellmich.
That victory secured them a spot in the President’s Cup final for fifth and sixth places, where they once again faced Switzerland, but this time they completely rewrote the script.
Bajorat gave them the lead after three minutes, and further goals by the Borstlap brothers, Theo and Lourens, put Namibia ahead 3-0. However, Switzerland opened their account just before the half-time break.
Namibia continued to attack in the second half, and Switzerland managed to keep them at bay until the final quarter when Namibia’s pressure started to tell as they ran in five more goals to complete a resounding win. Theo Borstlap went on to complete his hat trick, while Lourens added a second, and Du Toit scored a brace to secure a stunning victory for Namibia.
In the u17 men’s competition, Namibia got off to a great start, winning their opening two matches. On Monday, they beat Ireland 11-2 after leading 5-1 at half-time.
Guttzeit opened their scoring and went on to get a first-half hat trick, while Lourens Borstlap and Hellmich added two more to give them a comfortable half-time lead.
Namibia maintained momentum after the break, with further goals by Taneka Shilongo (2), Bajorat, Lourens Borstlap, Richard Gregory, and a fourth by Guttzeit, completing a commanding win.
Yesterday, Namibia overcame a strong fightback by Great Britain to win their match 7-5.
Namibia seemed to be heading for a comfortable victory when they streaked into a 5-0 lead within 15 minutes, with Borstlap, Bajorat (2), and Shilongo (2) scoring their goals.
Kaeden Aird opened Britain’s account just before half-time, but Shilongo completed his hat-trick midway through the second half to put Namibia ahead 6-1.
Britain, however, launched a great comeback, scoring four goals in seven minutes to close the deficit to 6-5, before a late goal by Borstlap ensured a tight win for Namibia.
Namibia is now second in group A on six points, with a +15 goal aggregate, just behind the Czech Republic (six points, +20 aggregate).
Namibia will take on the Czech Republic in a top-of-the-log clash today.
