… Krahenbuhl makes waves
WINDHOEK – Bowls player Axel Krahenbuhl caused a major upset when he clinched the Namibian closed singles competition for the very first time to be crowned the local Bowls Singles Champion in Windhoek last weekend.
In the final, the 30-year-old defeated the reigning champion William Esterhuizen by the narrowest
of margins, beating him 8-6 in the second round, after the first round ended in a 7-7 stalemate.
During the group phase, both finalists clinched the first place of their respective groups in dominating fashion, whereby Esterhuizen’s points and his shot aggregate demonstrated why he more than any other player was the hot favourite for this year’s title again.
Esterhuizen, 28 years of age, then went on to smash Johan Jacobs 12-2 and 15-0 in the semifinal, while Krahenbuhl had more problems defeating Graham Snyman 13-1 and 8-6 in his semifinal. Yet, in a highly contested final it was Krahenbuhl who kept the upper hand against his rival.
Krahenbuhl was selected three weeks ago for the Namibian national team to represent his country
at the African States Tournament (AST) next month. With the weekend’s victory, he also put himself up to represent Namibia in New Zealand next year to compete against the world’s best singles players at the “Champion of Champions” World Cup.
In the woman’s division, Diana Viljoen took the honours by beating Jenny Gardiner in the final to claim a spot in New Zealand. Viljoen was firmly in the driving seat winning the first set 9-4. Her counterpart, however, had other ideas and won the second set 1-12. The third set brought a final decision.
Viljoen, winner of three previous editions, kept a cool head and took home the title by winning 4-2.
In the semifinal, the champion to be nearly had to kiss her title ambitions goodbye as she had all sorts of problems with another title contender, Marie van der Merwe. Viljoen lost the first set 7-9, but showed great character by bouncing back and winning the next two sets 10-2 and 3-1. Gardiner beat Marietjie du Preez 9-3 and 11-3 in her semifinal.
By Staff Reporter