Brian Kahengombe
31 July 2008
THE best in Namibian squash was on show at the DStv Supersport Namibian Closed at the Wanderers Squash Club. The best players from around the country flocked to Windhoek to challenge for the highest prize on offer to Namibian squash players.
The tournament served as the perfect test and warm-up for the main event on the Namibian Squash Association's calendar, the DStv Namibian Open Squash tournament between September 19 and 21.
The closed champs kicked off on Friday night with a round of games that were nothing more than a formality and warm-up for the top players. The tournament consisted of 32 men and 16 women players.
The serious side of business got underway on Saturday morning, with the draw pitting some heavyweights against each other. The toughest of these being two squash maestros Nelson 'The Hustler' Herunga going up against Bimbo Van Der Bijl.
Herunga dispatched his training partner 3-1, setting up a rematch of the Top 16 invitational opener against Angelo Titus from the coast. This time round however, Titus made clockwork of Herunga, taking the game 3-1.
The dream quarter-final saw Tyc Kakehengo taking on Michau Basson in a thrilling five setter. Kakehongo, a surprise entrant into this year's tournament after pulling his hamstring at the Top 16 Invitational last month, seemed determined to make amends for that exit when he raced into a 2-0 lead against Basson.
The hard-running Basson however had no intention of making things easy for the coastal man and rallied back to tie the games at two a piece. In the end, it all came down to experience and the cool and collected Kakehongo won the match to set up an epic final against Ian Rowett.
In the women's section Adri Lambert cemented her dominance of the women's circuit this year with a comprehensive 3-0 defeat of Nancy Fernandez in the main final.
Fernandez, who seemed to have gotten the best of the Top 16 Invitational champ, raced to a 10-5 point lead in the first game only to let a bunch of unforced errors and nerves give the game away. Lucinda Rodriguez came third in the women's division.
The ladies' plate final was won by Natasha Estherhuizen who beat Gwen Lister 3-2 in a titanic match of stamina and endurance. Lister gave the younger Esterhuizen a fight that was won by sheer endurance and mental strength coupled with a bit of luck - champion's luck.
The men's consolation plate went to Van Der Bijl who beat Andrew Forrest 3-1 and the plate was won by Jean Du Toit who beat Imanuel Amorongo 3-1. The men's final was an all-coastal affair with Kakehengo of Walvis Bay playing Ian Rowett of Swakopmund.
The number one seed, Rowett, had a fairly easy run to the final with straight set wins against most of his opponents and stood head and shoulders above the rest of the players.
Rowett beat Kakehongo 3-0 to establish himself as the best chance for a Namibian to win the Namibian Open in September, when several top players from South Africa are likely to compete. The chairman of The Namibian Squash Association, Gerdus Louwrens, thanked the players and supporter for attending.
He further thanked Kobus Bezuidenhout and SuperSport for sponsoring in excess of N$20 000 for the tournament and confirmed that DStv and Supersport would sponsor the Namibian Open in September.
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