Kelvin Ndhlovu and Lauren Siddall were crowned the Namibian Open squash champions after winning the men and women’s titles on Sunday.
Zambia’s number one player, Ndhlovu, beat South Africa’s Michael Wood 3-0 (12-10, 11-7, 11-6) to win the men’s title for the first time, while the English woman Siddall won the women’s title for the third year in a row after beating South Africa’s Cheyna Tucker 3-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-4).
Both finals were closer than the score-lines suggest but the greater experience and big match temperament of Ndlhovu and Siddall saw them prevailing.
In the men’s final, Ndlhovu was pushed all the way in the first set before winning it 12-10.
Wood displayed great agility to retrieve some impossible shots, but Ndlhovu gradually wore his opponent down with his power and consistent all-round game to take the next two sets 11-6, 11-6 and wrap up the match.
In the men’s semifinals, Ndhlovu beat Manda Chilambwe of Zambia 3-1 (11-13, 11-3, 11-5, 11-4) while Wood was pushed all the way before beating compatriot Jimmy Schlebusch 3-2 (11-7, 8-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-7).
In the men’s third place play-off, Schlebusch beat Chilambwe 3-0 (11-3, 11-6, 11-5).
Andrew Forrest was the only Namibian to reach the quarterfinals where he lost 3-1 (11-6, 13-11, 6-11, 11-4) to Schlebusch.
In the women’s final, Siddall raced into a 7-1 lead in the first set, but Tucker launched a great comeback to draw level at 9-9 before Siddall drew on her experience and power to win the set 11-9.
The second set was also close, going to 7-all before Siddall pulled away to win it 11-7.
By the third set, however, Siddall was well in charge as she won it 11-4 to wrap up the match.
In the women’s semifinals, Siddall beat Namibia’s Carin Pretorius 3-0 (14-12, 11-5, 11-6) while Tucker beat compatriot Karin Schultz 3-0 (11-4, 11-7, 11-9).
The Men’s A Plate winner was Trevor Grane who beat Immanuel Amorongo 3-0, while Wynand Labuschagne beat Luan Wijgergangs 3-2 in the Men’s B Division final, with Paul Scheepers beating Gerhard Bruwer 3-2 in the Men’s B Plate final.
The tournament was sponsored by the Namibian to an amount of N$160 000 while the prize money amounted to N$64 000.
