Hesron Kapanga
BERLIN – The Namibian 3×3 basketball team registered mixed results in its unified men’s games at the 2023 Special Olympics World Games underway in Berlin, Germany.
The Namibian team had an impressive performance in its divisioning games since Monday, but started its play-off for silverware with an upset against Korea.
Namibia had an impressive start in their medal rankings game –but as the game continued, they found it hard to contain the Koreans, who were outscoring them at any given opportunity.
After five minutes of action at the Neptunbrunnen centre, the Korean team collected maximum points with a 16-11 win.
Despite going down in their opening match of the day, the Namibian team dusted themselves off in their second match to outclass Uruguay 9-5 after five minutes of action.
Their last match of the day will be against a high-flying Cuban team, who have been causing upsets in the championships with their high-scoring games.
Meanwhile, Namibian cyclist Rodney Stewe, the country’s only gold medallist at the championship thus far in the 5-kilometre (km) cycling event, found the going tough in the 25km race on Thursday.
The Namibian cyclist crossed the finish line in sixth position.
Rodney had a mechanical problem in the opening lap of his race after his chain fell off and had no chance to catch up with the rest of the riders when his issue was
resolved.
In an interview with Nampa on Thursday, Special Olympics Namibia Country Director Emilia Nzuzi said the athletes have been exceptional, and she is happy with their performances.
“Rodney was angry when he crossed the line because of his chain that fell off. Despite all these challenges, he did well, and we are proud of him. Our basketball team is also doing well, and we hope they can win their remaining games so they stand a chance to compete for medals,” she said.
After four days of competition, Team Namibia won three medals: one gold as well as two silver from athletics track, field events and road cycling.
The team is competing in athletics, 3×3 basketball and road cycling.
– Nampa