Namibia clinches bronze at darts championship
By John Tuerijama
THE relatively new national darts teams that was formed about two months ago had a splendid performance at the just concluded Region 5 Youth Championship at Walvis Bay from 27 to 30 August.
Though there are eight countries affiliated to Region 5, only five countries took part in the championship with Zimbabwe taking gold and Botswana settling for silver. South Africa and Zambia had to settle for fourth and fifth placement overall, because the two countries only took part in the under-19 categories and not in the under-16 division.
In terms of the overall points, Namibia recorded 32 points with South Africa on 40 and Zimbabwe on 54 in the under-13 and 15 girls category, while in the under-16 and 18 division Namibia scored 26 points compared to Zimbabwe with 58 and Botswana on 42.
The under-13 and 15 boys from the land of the brave raked in 34 points with Zimbabwe on 58, whilst Botswana recorded 40 points. However, Namibia did poorly in the under-16 and 18 boys’ category after recording only 14 points. Zimbabwe had 28 and Botswana 24 points.
The 2019 champions Zimbabwe on the total points scored recorded 218 followed by Botswana on 156, with Namibia in third position with 106 points. Fourth placed South Africa recorded 78 points with bottom-seated Zambia on 52 points.
Namibia Darts Federation (NDF)’s secretary general Ralf Ludwig said it was Namibia’s first time to take part in the championship and for the youngsters to end third overall is an achievement.
“It’s the first time that we had both boys and girls in the under-16 and under-19 categories and having started preparation two months ago, is an indication that we have talent that needs to be groomed and nurtured.
“We have indeed selected the best possible teams for the championship and Namibia, looking at the performance it is growing strength by strength and we have the same teams travelling to South Africa next year as a token of our appreciation to the teams.”
Ludwig added that the objective is to have an under-25 national team, including seniors, in the hope of taking the best of the best to the 2021 Region 5 championship scheduled for Harare, Zimbabwe.
He said the aim of the darts federation is to keep young people busy with positive activities, adding that darts can contribute positively to performance in subjects like mathematics. Looking to future developments, Ludwig said the federation has applied to the African Union (AU) Region 5 and the world darts body and their application is under consideration.
Ludwig cautioned that for darts as a sport to grow funds must be invested and also urged schools to encourage pupils to take up darts as a sport. The teams competed in the singles, pairs and team events.