NAMIBIAN squash has been quite active recently with several teams competing in South Africa over the past three months.
Earlier this month a Namibian men’s team consisting of Max Endjala, Brandon Grane, Danie Greeff, Emil Dörgeloh and Immanuel Amarongo participated in the highly competitive Growthpoint Interprovincial South African Squash Championship in East London where they came fourth in the C Division.
Namibia has been participating in the tournament since 2013 with Danie Greeff and Max Endjala both having represented Namibia six times at this event.
In May, three Namibian men and two women’s teams competed at the South African Country Districts tournament in George.
“A large contingent of 21 Namibian squash players participated in the South African Country Districts tournament during May 2022 in George, which is a festival of squash and where players can compete and build friendships that last a lifetime,” the Namibia Squash Association (NSA) said in a press release.
“The teams competed well and secured much-needed tournament experience even though they did not win any of the sections in which they competed,” it added.
The Namibian men’s A 1 team consisted of Max Endjala, Emil Doegeloh, Angelo Titus, Immanuel Amorongo and Henry Smit; the Namibian Men’s A 2 team consisted of Danie Greeff, Norbert Dorgeloh, Christof Knoetze, Michau Basson and Steven Berry; and the Namibian Men’s B team consisted of Franco Lambert, Nelson Herunga and Janre Olivier.
The Namibian Women’s A team consisted of Adri Lambert, Jessica Moore, Jacolene Steenkamp and Caricia Basson, while the Namibian Women’s B team consisted of Chantel de Gouveia, Hendrina Louw, Kirsten Wolhuter and Liezl Wijgergangs.
According to the press release, Namibia will also compete at the Africa Squash Championships which will be held in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe from 29 August to 4 September.
“The revival in Namibian squash has been astonishing over the past decade, despite the pandemic. The exploding interest in squash amongst the youth in Windhoek and the coastal towns of Walvis Bay and Swakopmund has been the result of inspirational coaching by Sean Wathen, Devon Savage, Torben Winterbach, Immanuel Amarongo and Max Endjala,” the NSA stated.
The NSA extended its appreciation to the sponsors of Namibian squash which include BDO Namibia, Visions Consulting, Pupkewitz, WB Hardware and Building Supplies, Total Sports, Seaworks, Supatronix, Namib Diesel, FNB Namibia, Slowtown, Sanlam, Bank Windhoek, Perfect Water, the Namibian newspaper, and Trustco amongst others.
The president of the NSA, Namibian squash, Rudi Koekemoer, also expressed his excitement about two World Squash Federation-certified coaches, Konny Höllein of Austria and Volker Knerr of Germany who will relocate to Swakopmund in October and will become involved in squash development in Namibia.
“They will supplement the efforts of the existing squash coaches and will particularly become involved in the development of less-privileged players. Squash, like all other sport codes, has the ability to bring hope and to promote healthy and productive lifestyles,” Koekemoer said.</…….
Source: https://www.namibian.com.na/114444/read/Namibian-squash-going-places