Poor show for shooters at Games

NAMIBIA’S shottists have also been struck by the flu virus and posted disappointing scores after two days of competition.

Jan Nel and Sven Ahrens, who participated in the Clay Target Olympic Trap discipline, could only manage average scores on Monday. Nel shot rounds of 14, 17 and 18 out of 25, while Ahrens shot rounds of 16, 17 and 20 out of 25.On July 17 Nel improved a bit, shooting 21 out of 25, while Ahrens shot 18 out of 25, but these scores were far below their normal scores, and will probably not be enough to see them through to the final.After five rounds of shooting, the shottists’ scores are counted together, with the top six progressing to the final.Ahrens said that both he and Nel had been struck down by a flu virus that has affected several Namibian athletes so far.”Jan and I picked up the flu at the athletes village where we first stayed.I started coughing and got a fever, and then Jan picked it up from me.We felt bad and our concentration was very low.Normally it would be easy for me to shoot 23 out of 25 clays on a course like this, but now I’m averaging about 16 which is totally unacceptable,” he said.Ahrens said that the conditions in Algeria were also not beneficial to top performances.”I’m used to better food and my system is quite down.I’m on the toilet a lot, I’ve got a fever all day long, we’re sweating the whole night and I can’t sleep because of all the mosquitoes.The bedding doesn’t get changed, we don’t have any toilet paper – all these things are contributing to the low scores that we are shooting,” he said.”Granted, the other guys are also in the same position and they are also not shooting at their normal level.But I think the Algerians and Egyptians have an advantage because they stay in these conditions and they are doing better than us,” he added.Namibia’s other shottists are Boelie Malherbe and Andreas Dopke who will participate in the pistol shooting competition.Meanwhile, wrestler Sammy Luttig lost both her opening bouts yesterday.In her first bout, her Egyptian opponent caught her with an arm roll and pinned her down to the floor and in her second bout she laws once again pinned down by a South African opponent.”We are quite disappointed by the defeats, but we will just have to work harder now.It is clear that we need to be exposed to stronger competition to raise the level of wrestling in Namibia,” the wrestling coach Ernst Venske said.Luttig has two more bouts remaining, while Johannes Homateni will compete in the freestyle category today.Nel shot rounds of 14, 17 and 18 out of 25, while Ahrens shot rounds of 16, 17 and 20 out of 25.On July 17 Nel improved a bit, shooting 21 out of 25, while Ahrens shot 18 out of 25, but these scores were far below their normal scores, and will probably not be enough to see them through to the final.After five rounds of shooting, the shottists’ scores are counted together, with the top six progressing to the final.Ahrens said that both he and Nel had been struck down by a flu virus that has affected several Namibian athletes so far.”Jan and I picked up the flu at the athletes village where we first stayed.I started coughing and got a fever, and then Jan picked it up from me.We felt bad and our concentration was very low.Normally it would be easy for me to shoot 23 out of 25 clays on a course like this, but now I’m averaging about 16 which is totally unacceptable,” he said.Ahrens said that the conditions in Algeria were also not beneficial to top performances.”I’m used to better food and my system is quite down.I’m on the toilet a lot, I’ve got a fever all day long, we’re sweating the whole night and I can’t sleep because of all the mosquitoes.The bedding doesn’t get changed, we don’t have any toilet paper – all these things are contributing to the low scores that we are shooting,” he said.”Granted, the other guys are also in the same position and they are also not shooting at their normal level.But I think the Algerians and Egyptians have an advantage because they stay in these conditions and they are doing better than us,” he added.Namibia’s other shottists are Boelie Malherbe and Andreas Dopke who will participate in the pistol shooting competition.Meanwhile, wrestler Sammy Luttig lost both her opening bouts yesterday.In her first bout, her Egyptian opponent caught her with an arm roll and pinned her down to the floor and in her second bout she laws once again pinned down by a South African opponent.”We are quite disappointed by the defeats, but we will just have to work harder now.It is clear that we need to be exposed to stronger competition to raise the level of wrestling in Namibia,” the wrestling coach Ernst Venske said.Luttig has two more bouts remaining, while Johannes Homateni will compete in the freestyle category today.