2009 in Review – Top Ten

Courtesy of www.namibiasport.com.na

With 2009 consigned to history, Namibia Sport brings you a list of the Top Ten Performances by Namibian sportsmen and women in the international sporting arena.

Number 1: Paulus Moses becomes World Champion

Paulus “The Hitman” Moses gave a sensational performance to beat Japan’s Yusuke Kobori and win the World Boxing Association lightweight title in Yokahama on January 3.

Moses dominated the fight from the start and was a clear winner according to one judge who scored it 119-109 in his favour, while two other judges had it closer, both scoring 115-113 in Moses’ favour.

According to reports, Moses kept jabbing and throwing busy combinations against the game and gutsy defending champion Yusuke Kobori. Moses withstood the champ’s retaliation in the middle rounds en route to a unanimous decision over a hard-fought twelve rounds in Yokohama, Japan.

According to the Japanese boxing writer Joe Koizumi it was an excellent fight which was a strong candidate for Fight of the Year in Japan.

“Both boxers gave their all, swapping punches from the start to the end. Moses was superior in terms of speed, skills and ring generalship, while Kobori showed his undaunted fighting spirit,” he said.

“The physically superior challenger was an inch taller and had a longer reach by five inches. He commenced firework with stinging lefts, left-right combinations and quick combinations from the opening bell. Kobori covered himself up very well and attempted to counter with his trademark left hooks.”

“This observer had it 116-112 for Moses, giving Kobori only the second, fourth, fifth and ninth rounds. Moses looked the winner, regardless of a difference on points. Also, the Namibian, a year older than Kobori at 28, swept the last three rounds without question to confirm his coronation. In the second half, Moses seemingly dominated five rounds, while Kobori only won the ninth,” Koizumi added.

On July 25, Moses successfully defended his title when he beat another Japanese boxer Takehiro Shimada on points over 12 rounds in Windhoek. It was a professional performance by Moses, who was once again in great physical shape, and in the end he was a convincing winner. Two of the judges scored the fight 119-109 in his favour while the third scored it 118-110.

Number 2: Namibians win African Mountain Bike titles

Namibian mountain bike riders Marc Bassingthwaighte and Heletje van Staden excelled to be crowned African champions at the African Continental Mountain Bike Championships in Nelspruit, South Africa on July 11.

Bassingthwaighte beat the top riders on the continent to win the Elite Men’s category, while Van Staden won the Women’s U23 category.
Bassingthwaighte completed the six-lap race in a time of 1 hour 59 minutes and 13 seconds to finish well ahead of South Africa’s Renay Groustra who came home in 2:00:56. Another South African, Ben Swanepoel finished third in 2:02:12.

Bassingthwaighte took the lead from the start and by the second lap he and Groustra broke away from the chasing pack. They opened up a gap on the chasing pack and by the fourth lap Bassingthwaighte finally managed to shake off Groustra.

Namibia’s top female mountain biker Heletje van Staden also excelled to win the Women’s U23 African title. Van Staden completed the four-lap event in a time of 1:40:41, to finish well ahead of South Africa’s Genee Steyn who came second in 1:55:16.

Bassingthwaighte earlier underlined his continental dominance when he won the South African Mountain Bike Cross Country Championships in George in March, and the South African MTN National Mountain Bike cross country series in May.

Van Staden also excelled by winning the Women’s U23 category at the South African Mountain Bike Cross Country Championships in George in March.

Number 3 - Johannes wins Two Oceans Half Marathon

Namibia’s top road runner Helalia Johannes beat a field of more than 6 000 athletes to win the Two Oceans Half Marathon in Cape Town in a fast time of 1 hour 13 minutes and 34 seconds in April.

Johannes led from the start, to finish more than two minutes ahead of Mamarolla Tjoka of Lesotho (1:15:43), while Tabitha Tsatsa of Zimbabwe came third in 1:17:10.
With the victory, Johannes once again reasserted her position as the top half marathon athlete in southern Africa, after having won the Two Oceans Half Marathon on three occasions over the past four years.

Johannes won the title for the first time in 2006 in a time of 1:13:35 and then once again won in 2007 in a new record time of 1:13:16. In 2008 she did not participate as she was competing at the Seoul Marathon in South Korea, where she qualified for the Olympic Games in Beijing.

In August, Johannes competed in the 42km marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin where she finished in 56th position in a time of 2:50:19, which was well below her personal best time of 2:32:30.

Number 4 – Hoffmann wins bronze at African Cycling Champs

Erik Hoffmann rode a superb race to finish third and claim the bronze medal at the African Cycling Championships road race in Windhoek in November.
Hoffmann and Under 23 compatriot Petrus Lotto fought a lone battle against South Africa’s strongest seven cyclists who attacked them from the outset.

The South Africans took a grip on the race from the start as Burries Stander and a team mate launched an early break from the pack. Lotto went with them and at the halfway stage they had built up a lead of more than a minute on the leading group which included Hoffmann, Saadoune Abdelati of Morocco and five more South Africans.

The South Africans tried to shake Hoffmann off with breakaways and team tactics but he stuck to them and with about 10km remaining he went to the front with South Africa’s Jay Thomson and Ian McLeod, passing a tiring Lotto.

The South Africans managed to shake Hoffmann off in the final stages as McLeod went on to win gold in 3 hours 52 minutes 8 seconds, just ahead of Thompson who finished in the same time, while Hoffmann finished third in 3:53:47.

Lotto also had a superb race and went on to win the gold medal in the Men’s U23 category. He eventually finished eighth overall in a time of 3:59:17.

Number 5 - Namibia overwhelm the Ivory Coast

Namibia gave a brilliant display to overwhelm the Ivory Coast 54-14 at the Hage Geingob Rugby Stadium on June 27 and take a step closer to qualifying for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Namibia produced some great attacking rugby with their inspirational forwards tackling and driving relentlessly while their quicksilver backline had the visitors’ defence at full stretch.

Namibian fullback Chrysander Botha had a great game, scoring two tries, three penalties and five conversions for a personal haul of 29 points, but it was Namibia’s forwards who laid the foundation with their constant pressure and dominance of the set pieces.

Here the loose trio of Tinus du Plessis, Jacques Burger and Jacques Nieuwenhuis was outstanding, with their terrier-like tackling and relentless drives, while PJ van Lill, who came on in the second half also had a storming game.

Locks Wacca Kazombiaze and Nico Esterhuizen won a surfeit of possession in the lineouts, while Namibia also dominated the scrums, pushing the visitors back at will and disrupting their possession.

Amongst the backs, Namibia lost flyhalf Jacky Bock early through an injury, but this did not disrupt their play as replacement flyhalf Emile Wessels kept Namibia’s backline moving forward with a quick service.

Centre David Philander had a great game, breaking the line on several occasions, while fullback Botha was outstanding, joining the backline at pace and scoring two tries in the process.

On November 28, Namibia qualified for their fourth successive Rugby World Cup when they beat Tunisia 22-10 in Windhoek. Namibia beat Tunisia 18-13 in Tunis on November 14 to qualify 40-23 on aggregate.

Number 6 – Namibia win Plate Final at Trustco Sevens

Namibia rose to the occasion with a magnificent performance, highlighted by Attie du Plessis’ hattrick of tries, to beat Samoa 24-14 in the Plate Final at the Trustco International Sevens Rugby Tournament in Windhoek in September.

The physical Samoans made their presence felt in the early stages, but Namibia’s defence stood firm and they took the lead through a great try by Attie du Plessis after Brandon Walters broke the line. Howard Titus added the conversion, but Samoa immediately struck back with a try by Isamaeli Tims, converted by Penelope Lafaele.
Walters and Heini Bock combined to put Dwayne Henckert clear, but Samoa regained the lead through a try and conversion by Lafaele.

With Samoa threatening to take control, Namibia showed great character to come back. Roared on by the crowd, Attie du Plessis broke straight through the middle to score a great try with a searing dive under the posts.

Samoa pushed hard in the final stages, but Namibia launched a counterattack as Du Plessis broke clear down the touchline to dive over for his third try to tumultuous applause.

It was a stunning victory which was wildly celebrated and the Namibian team basked in the limelight as they went on a lap of honour around the field.

South Africa’s Springboks won the Cup final after beating Zimbabwe 61-14, while Tunisia beat Uganda 26-21 in the Plate Final.

Number 7 – Brave Warriors thrash the DRC

The Brave Warriors gave a scintillating display to beat the DR Congo 4-0 in a friendly soccer match at Windhoek’s Independence Stadium on June 6. Quinton Jacobs gave Namibia a 1-0 lead at halftime while second half goals by Rudolph Bester and a brace by substitute Heini Isaacs completed an emphatic victory.

It was a great team performance, with Richard Gariseb, George Hummel, Hartman Toromba and Nelson Geingob solid in defence, while Rudolph Bester was outstanding in attack with his darting runs which had the DRC defence at sixes and sevens.

Heini Isaacs made a great return to the Brave Warriors after an absence of more than two years, while Namibia’s captain Quinton Jacobs gave a masterful performance in midfield, fighting for possession and driving the team forward with incisive attacks and well placed passes.

For coach Tom Saintfiet it was another great escape after he had feared the worst following the withdrawal of seven foreign-based players from the squad before the match. In their absence, his starting line-up eventually included six foreign and five local based players who all made full use of their opportunity with inspired performances.

The result saw Namibia shooting up 12 places on the FIFA ranking to 103 in the world, while they reached 101 in September – their highest world ranking in more than ten years.

Number 8 - Naigambo wins Eindhoven Marathon

Beata Naigambo produced an excellent performance on October 11 when she won the Eindhoven Marathon in Holland in a new Namibian record time of 2:31:01.

Naigambo’s winning time was well below the previous Namibian record of 2:32:30 which was established by Helalia Johannes at the Dublin Marathon in October 2008, while it was also a big improvement on Naigambo’s previous personal best time of 2:33:05.

Naigambo showed great consistency throughout the race and became stronger as the race progressed. She was amongst the leaders from the start and reached the 10km mark in a fast time of 36:14. When she reached the 21km halfway mark in a time of 1:16:13 she was already well set to break the Namibian record.

Naigambo even managed to increase her pace over the second half of the marathon and reached the 30km mark in a time of 1:48:10, before crossing the finish line in a new Namibian record time.

Naigambo and Lydia Kurgat of Kenya opened up a lead on the rest of the field early on but Naigambo managed to shale off Kurgat’s challenge over the final stages of the race. She eventually finished 25 seconds ahead of Kurgat who followed in second place, while Virginie Vandroogenbroeck of Belgium came third, well behind in 2:43:48.

In August, Naigambo competed at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin where she came 24th in a then personal best time of 2:33:05.

Number 9 – Namibia win two gold medals at Bowls AST

Namibia’s bowls team produced its best performance at the African States Bowls tournament in recent years when they won two gold, two silver and one bronze medal at the annual continental event which was held in Swaziland.

Graham Snyman won a gold medal in the men’s singles competition to be crowned the African champion, while Namibia’s men’s fours team, consisting of Willie Esterhuyse, Sandy Joubert, Ewald Vermeulen and Steven Peake also won gold in the fours competition.

In the trips competition, Namibia’s team of Willie Esterhuyse, Ewald Vermeulen and Steven Peake won a bronze medal, while Namibia finished third overall in the men’s competition.

In the women’s fours competition, Namibia’s team of Bea Lampbrecht, Marie du Preez, Diana Viljoen and Miele van der Merwe won a silver medal, while Namibia’s trips team of Bea Lampbrecht, Diana Viljoen and Miele van der Merwe also won a silver medal.

Namibia’s women’s team however narrowly missed out on a place at the next World Championships which was reserved for the overall top three teams, as they finished fourth overall – one point behind third placed Botswana. Namibia’s men’s team has already qualified for the next world championships after finishing 12th at the 2008 World Championships.

Snyman became Namibia’s first African singles champion since Douw Calitz won singles gold in Botswana four years ago, but he was pushed all the way and only won the title on points aggregate. Snyman won three of his five matches to finish on six points, but his opponents from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana also all won three and lost two matches to finish on six points. Snyman however had the best points aggregate to win the gold medal ahead of Botswana and South Africa.

South Africa were the overall winners of the men’s competition with a total of 30 points, followed by Zimbabwe on 23 and Namibia on 22 points.

South Africa were the overall winners of the women’s competition with 38 points, followed by Swaziland on 18, Botswana on 18 and Namibia on 17 points.

Number 10 - Haikali wins WBO African lightweight title

Martin Haikali caused a major upset when he beat compatriot Jatoorora Tjingavete on a sixth round TKO to become the new African WBO lightweight champion on November 21.

Haikali was roped in as a replacement for Wandile Mseleku of South Africa who withdrew without any reason at the last minute, but despite the short notice, Haikali rose to the occasion with a brilliant performance, before the referee stopped the fight in the sixth round.

Haikali was the busier boxer from the start, throwing combinations and taking the fight to Tjingavete from the first round. Tjingavete had a cagey start, looking for openings with his jab.

The fight picked up pace in the second round as Haikali caught Tjingavete with some sharp hooks and combinations, while Tjingavete picked up his workrate with some telling jabs.

With the crowd rallying behind both boxers, Tjingavete started landing some sharp jabs, but Haikali kept on going forward, with his all-out attacking style.
By the fifth round Tjingavete changed tactics as he slugged it out toe-to-toe with Haikali, much to the delight of the crowd which roared its approval. Haikali however was landing the stronger punches and landed some sharp hooks to Tjingavete’s head.

The end came quickly in the sixth round as Haikali trapped Tjingavete on the ropes and unleashed a barrage of powerful combinations to Tjingavete’s head. A right hook put Tjingavete down and although he managed to beat the count, he was clearly unsteady on his feet.

Haikali once again lay into him on the ropes, and with Tjingavete offering no resistance, referee Timo Haikonda stepped in to stop the fight, to the delight of Haikali and his helpers, who hoisted their new champion on their shoulders and paraded him around the ring.