Uutoni keeps Games medal hope alive

NAMIBIAN medal hopeful and light flyweight boxer Japhet Uutoni yesterday defeated his opponent from Papua New Guinea, Magaiva Lui by 7 points to 5 at the Commonwealth Games underway in New Delhi, India.

Uutoni won gold during the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Another boxer who made it into the next round is welterweight Desmond Mujandjaije Kasuto, who defeated South African opponent Lusizi Siphiwe with a knockout in the third round on Wednesday.Team Namibia’s Chef de Mission, Elize Pietersen, informed Nampa from India yesterday that ‘the team is doing very well, specifically boxing’. Flyweight boxer Simon Johannes was scheduled to trade blows against Oteng Oteng from neighbouring Botswana yesterday. Paralympic athlete Johanna Benson has qualified for the 100m, and was also expected to turnout yesterday. Benson is one of five nominees vying for the Sportswoman of the Year award in the 2010 Namibia Sport Awards.Pietersen, however, expressed disappointment with the men’s bowls team who lost all their round-robin matches, but gave a thumbs-up to the women’s bowls team who are doing well after having defeated Papua New Guinea, the Cook Islands and Niue.Archers Dirk Bockmuhl and Benjamin van Wyk bade farewell after a poor showing, while Johannes Grobler is still competing in the individual competition.According to her, gymnasts Kimberly-Ann van Zyl and Robert Honniball also failed to impress, and are returning home on Saturday.Van Zyl has to go back to school in South Africa.Overall the Namibian camp have endured no complications thus far, apart from team medical officer Donatha Gawanab who is nursing a knee injury.Up to 15 swimmers on the England and Australian teams reportedly have a stomach virus potentially caused by the suspect water quality at the aquatics centre in New Delhi.Three Ugandan officials were injured by a malfunctioning security barrier at the games’ village, and a senior official from that country raised allegations of discrimination against Indian officials. These were the latest issues to plague the games in India, which have been facing problems in construction delays, corruption allegations and concerns about security and hygiene. – Nampa