Squash players deliver quality play

OVER 80 squash players competed in possibly the biggest MultiChoice Namibian Closed squash tournament in over 20 years, held at the Buccaneers Squash Club in Walvis Bay over the weekend.

Players who came from all over Namibia, and as far as South Africa, competed to be recognised as the top Namibian player. The big draw meant that the men’s section was subdivided into an A and B section with each section offering a main Cup, Consolation Cup, Plate and Consolation Plate. The women’s section offered a Main cup, Consolation cup, Plate and a Consolation Plate.The men’s A section saw the return of Marco Becker, who is based in South Africa and started the tournament as the favourite.Round one was a formality with the top players easily dispatching of their opponents to get to the next stage where tougher games were in store.Adri Lambert was the number one seed due to the absence of Namibia’s top-ranked player, Isabelle Schnoor, out with a foot injury. Lambert faced stern opposition from Nancy Fernandez and coastal favourite Jenny Pahl, the number 2 and 3 seeds at the tournament.Fernandez blew Carla Cummings away with a comprehensive 3-0 win.In the men’s A section, Norbert Dorgeloh, another returning Namibian squash player, beat Brian Kahengombe 3-1 to establish his own challenge at the coveted Namibian closed trophy. The warm weather, which makes the ball bounce higher, ensured that the games were long and hard on the players. The men’s B section saw Ferdie Malherbe set a date with Roger Herunga in the final with a hard ground 3-2 win.The women’s number one seed Lambert downed Trix Van Der Westhuizen 3-0 to set up a final with Pahl, who finished off Fernandez with a 3-0 win. In the men’s A Cup quarter-final, Norbert Dorgeloh assured his place in the final with a 3-0 victory over Michau Basson. The hard-running Basson could not keep up with the fast-paced running and relentless attack of his younger opponent and had to concede defeat in the end. The other quarter-final saw Marco Becker dispatch of Tyc Kakehongo 3-0 and set up an epic battle with Dorgeloh. The final in the Men’s B Cup saw Freddie Malherbe beat Roger Herunga 3-0 to become e the men’s B cup champion. The men’s B Consolation Cup went to Dirk Van Niekerk who beat Lesley Bosman 3 -1. The men’s B Plate saw squash veteran Tienie Botha rally from 2-0 down to beat Conrad Wagner 2-3. In the men’s B Consolation Plate, Andre Huisamen beat Trevor Van Der Fecht 3-1.Natasja Estherhuizen beat Liezel Wijgergangs 3-2 in the women’s Plate final in a match that saw her come from 9-3 points down to force a tie-break and eventually triumph 13-11 in a 5-set match. The consolation cup saw Amy Van Der Byl win 3-1 against Carla Cummings. Lambert took on Pahl in the main women’s final to prove a point after she has never defeated Pahl before.Lambert took the second game to make it 1-1, but the vibrant Pahl gave her Windhoek based opponent no room to get into the game with two quick games to wrap the match up 3-2.The men’s A Cup saw Dorgeloh attempt to unseat Becker as Namibia’s number one, but Becker showed that he was just a class above the talented young Dorgeloh.Dorgeloh made Becker display some decisive and accurate squash playing, nearly 80 per cent of his shots tight and in the last quartet of the court. Becker ultimately won the match 3-0 to be crowned the Namibian champion. Gerdus Louwrens won the consolation cup after he beat Andrew Forrest 3-2. The A plate was won by Luke Allen who celebrated his birthday with a well-fought 3-2 win over Dries Tredoux. The consolation plate went to Erik Bruys with a 3-1 win against Danie Greef, a promising young talent.