WINDHOEK – The Namibian Fistball season is set to unfold this weekend when action gets underway in the Bank Windhoek National Fistball League opening tournament at the SKW fields in Windhoek tomorrow.
Nine teams from four different clubs will participate in two categories at the event. SKW 1 are the clear favourites to defend their title in the National A-league category. The current league champions had a bumper year in 2013, winning all titles up for grabs in Namibia and participating in the World Club Championships, which was hosted by Namibia.
The team set to challenge SKW for the tournament will be Cohen FC-1. The Windhoek-based team will be at full strength and will be led by U-18 national team captain, Tristan Minz. The third place is expected to go to SKW-2, but Cohen FC 2 and the Swakopmund Fistball Club (SFC) have in recent times also shown vast improvement. Cohen FC 3 are the favourites in the National-B League category of the competition.
They kept a clean sheet throughout the 2013 season and will be in strong form, led by former national team spiker, Wilfried Hacker. SKW-3 are the only team expected to mount a challenge for the trophy. SKW-3 have consistently performed well at tournaments during the past seasons and have the potential to spring a surprise on Cohen FC-3. The third Windhoek team in the competition, DTS, are the surprise package. The club has a number of young players, which it has drafted into the team for the new season, while some of the seasoned players have retired. SFC will once again start the competition with a development team consisting mainly of U-18 players. The prize-giving ceremony for the tournament will be held at the SKW Fistball fields from 19h00 in the evening on the same day. At the event, the U-18 national team coach, Andreas Minz will announce the U-18 national squad that will be travelling to Brazil in April this year, where they will represent Namibia at the U-18 World Championships. The extended squad already completed a rigorous training programme last weekend at which the coaching team gained valuable insight with regard to the fitness of the players.
By Staff Reporter