…Omaheke win men’s section
Peter Muronga
Katima Mulilo
Kavango East were crowned the inaugural The Namibian Newspaper Cup netball champions after beating Erongo by 39 baskets to 33 in a nail-biting final at the Katima Mulilo Sports Complex yesterday.
In the opening quarter, Erongo took the lead but Kavango recovered quickly to make it 13-7. And as the match progressed, Erongo regained momentum closing the gap of the first quarter, ending this particular quarter at 19-15. In the third quarter, Erongo took complete control of proceedings with impressive connecting passes. However, Kavango kept increasing their lead in the final quarter, taking a six-goal margin to the decisive final quarter.
Kavango East’s centre, Mwengere Diyeve was crowned player of the match with her coach Melanie Mbuuru, telling Nampa after the match that she was happy the team were crowned the inaugural champions of the Newspaper Cup. “We have made history at Katima Mulilo by becoming the first netball champions. Now, we want to take it from here and concentrate on the youth games, which will be played in May,” said Mbuuru.
Erongo’s coach Kanku Bobsey Musambani said his players underestimated Kavango East and paid the price, but it was a learning curve for them. “Now we will go back and do our homework to prepare for the youth games next month,” he said.
The Namibia National Youth Games are slated for Windhoek next month and will see 1,800 athletes competing in 10 different sporting disciplines.
Omaheke deny Kavango East a double
Omaheke returned to winning ways when the boys from the Cattle Country defeated Kavango East by a solitary strike (1-0) to clinch the annual men’s Newspaper Cup after four days of marathon football matches in Katima Mulilo yesterday.– Nampa