South Africa has taken a big lead in the AUSC Region 5 Youth Games, but Namibia has also collected a sizable medal haul to lie second overall.
With the Youth Games at about the halfway stage by Tuesday evening, South Africa were leading the medal table with 38 gold, 42 silver, and 16 bronze medals for a total of 96 medals, while Namibia were second with 18 gold, 19 silver, and 20 bronze medals for a total of 57.
They were followed by Zimbabwe (7 gold, 7 silver, 16 bronze) and Botswana (5 gold, 4 silver, 13 bronze).
More than half of Namibia’s medal haul came from their swimmers after the swimming competition concluded at the Cube in Swakopmund. They won 10 gold, 9 silver, and 11 bronze medals to finish second behind South Africa who won 21 gold, 21 silver, and 7 bronze medals.
In netball, Namibia progressed to the semifinals after finishing second in Pool B. They comfortably beat Botswana 56-17, but lost a close encounter against Zimbabwe 45-41.
Namibia will now meet the winners of Pool A, South Africa, who won all three of their matches against Zambia (53-38), Eswatini (92-14), and Malawi (48-29). Their semifinal is scheduled for 17h30 today at the Windhoek Showgrounds Plaza and will be followed by the other semi between Zimbabwe and Malawi.
In football, Namibia’s Young Gladiators are through to the semifinals of the women’s U20 competition, after beating Botswana 2-1 in their final pool match on Tuesday.
Ontheedite Tokwane and Renalda Angula scored the goals that put them at the top of Group A on 7 points, with Botswana coming second on 6 points. The Young Gladiators will now face the winner of Group B, Zambia, in the semifinals tomorrow, with the match scheduled to start at 15h00 at the Hage Geingob Stadium. The other semifinal is at the Unam Stadium between Botswana and South Africa at 12h00.
Namibia’s men failed to reach the semis after finishing third in Group A on 3 points. They lost 2-0 to Malawi and 1-0 to Angola, but managed to beat Zimbabwe 3-2.
Malawi and Angola topped Group A with 7 points each to book their places in the semifinals, while South Africa (4 points), Zambia (4) and Botswana (3) were still in the running for a semifinal spot in Group B.
Zimbabwe leading volleyball
In the boys u18 volleyball competition, Zimbabwe took the early lead, winning their opening three matches to top the log on 9 points, followed by South Africa, Malawi, and Namibia, all on 3 points each.
In the girls u18 volleyball competition, Zimbabwe was leading Group A on 7 points, followed by Malawi (6) and Lesotho (3), while Namibia are on zero points after losing three matches. South Africa topped Group B on 9 points, followed by Mozambique (6), Angola (3), and Botswana (0).
In the girls u16 basketball competition, Namibia lost their opening four matches to go to the bottom of the log, but the rest of the teams are very even with only two points separating Mozambique (7), Angola, South Africa, and Malawi (6), and Botswana and Zambia (5).
Namibia are also bottom of the boys u16 basketball log after losing their opening two matches. South Africa and Malawi lead the log on 6 points each, followed by Angola (4) and Botswana (3).
In boxing, Namibia got off to a poor start as they lost all three their bouts on Tuesday. Pwakuala Deli lost 4-1 on points to Relehile Moso of Lesotho in a 51kg flyweight fight; Matheus Kalingo lost 3-1 to Reabetsoe Mokhitli of Lesotho in a 54kg bantamweight fight; and Ananias Ananias lost 5-0 to Tlhatlhobo Lebokwana of Botswana in a 57kg featherweight fight.
The boxing continues at the After School Care Centre in Khomasdal through to the weekend.
The athletics results from Swakopmund still have to be added to the overall medal standings, while several sporting codes are ongoing and will be decided over the coming days.
The action continues through to Saturday with the closing ceremony scheduled to take place on Sunday at Windhoek’s Independence Stadium.
