JOHANNESBURG – Namibian archers have won a total of 11 medals at the conclusion of the 64th edition of the annual South African National Championships, at Marks Park Sports Club, Johannesburg, last week.
The medals arrived in the form 8 gold, 2 silvers and 1 bronze medal over the course of six competition days. “We are very happy with the results and the gutsy fashion in which our archers competed at the event. It shows that our archers are able to compete at the highest level,” said an excited AAN Secretary Karola Woortman. The results are likely to give the Namibian archers the much-needed confidence ahead of the 4-day African Archery Youth Championships slated for the DTS Sports Club in Windhoek starting this coming Sunday.
The most impressive performance came from Ruan van Staden, Babette Taljaard, Xander Reddig and Hanné Snyman, each winning a gold medal in the 1440 ‘Full FITA’ round and the 720 round. Snyman, shooting in the Compound U-13 girls division, became the first Namibian archer to shoot more than 1400 points in the 1440 ‘Single FITA’ round. The talented youngster recorded 1404 points, making her only the 2nd woman in Africa to achieve this elusive feat. According to AAN president Frank Bockmühl, there are less than 100 archers worldwide who managed to shoot 1400 points or more.
Meanwhile, 15-year old Reddig smashed the minimum qualification standard for the Youth Olympic Games for the 2nd time in less than 3 weeks, scoring a personal best of 640 in the Recurve Cadet Men’s division. His best score stood at 339 after the Independence Day Shoot last month. Reddig is only the 2nd Namibian after swimmer Zandré Oberholzer to qualify for the Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China. Hendrik van Eeden, contested the Compound Cadet Men division and clinched a silver medal in the 1440 ‘Full FITA’ round and also won bronze in the 720 round, while his teammate Jackson Engel won silver in the 720 round of the Compound Cadet Men.
By Staff Reporter