WINDHOEK – Namibian bowlers couldn’t capitalize on their home advantage as they fell short to South Africa and Zimbabwe during the first ever Quadrangular tourney on the greens of the Country Club in Windhoek last weekend.
Neighbours South Africa entered a junior development team to play alongside their regular national team and the juniors didn’t disappoint. It was however the Zimbabweans that proved to be the best in the men’s competitions.
The hosts, playing in red and white, took top honours in the singles and triples division and added a 2nd place in the pairs and a 3rd place in the fours to their impressive tally.
Thanks to their immense showing, the hosts were able to accumulate 13 points in total to claim gold.
Second-placed South Africa gave the eventual winners a good run for their money winning 12 points to just miss out on top spot.
Their junior team completed the podium with 10 points, leaving the Namibians on the bottom of the table with only 5 points.
“The level of competition was very high. We didn’t do as well as we planned. Now we have to go back to the drawing board and work hard towards the future”, Lesley Vermeulen, the Namibian Bowling Associations (NBA) public relations officer said.
The Namibian women suffered the same fate as their male counterparts.
With only 5 points to their name, the hosts had to settle for last place.
South Africa’s first team had found the winning formula from the beginning of the 3-day event in the capital and cruised to a solid win, gaining 14 points in total.
The ladies won the fours and pairs cate-gory while coming in second on the pairs and triples.
Their junior squad was equally impressive.
With only two points less, they edged out an experienced Zimbab-wean outfit to claim second place.
The players from the Cape didn’t stop there.
In the two test against Namibia – only two nations contested in this division – the South Africans showed great ability to triumph with 14 points while Namibia were left behind with 2 points to their name.