Archive - Apr 2008

Chinese Ambassador to Namibia, Ren Xiaoping, has assured her countryâ??sâ?? readiness of hosting the prestigious 2008 Summer Olympic Games that is slated for August 8 until August 24. Xiaoping made the announcement during the inaugural countdown to the Olympic Games hosted by the Namibia National Olympics Committee (NNOC) in collaboration with the Chinese Embassy.

Namibian professional cyclist Erik Hoffmann recently returned home for a short break from the Asian tour where he is now riding for his Giant Asia Racing Team.

Hoffmann is hard at work preparing for the Olympic Games in Beijing where he will represent Namibia as the only road cyclist. Hoffmann qualified for the Olympics when he came second at the World B Championships in Cape Town last year, although he was only officially informed in January that he had been selected to represent Namibia at the Olympic Games.

The Namibia Premier League (NPL) held discussions with members of the South African Professional Soccer League (PSL) over the weekend to exchange ideas on how to professionalise Namibian soccer.

Professor Ronnie Schloss, the chief operating officer of the PSL and Peter Mancer, head of PSL marketing, visited Namibia on the invitation of the NPL and exchanged ideas about the formation of a professional soccer league with Namibian soccer administrators over the weekend.

Former Orlando Pirates coach Shepherd Murape this past weekend registered his first league victory since taking over at the relegation-threatened South African club Black Leopards. The Premiership strugglers defeated Richard Garisebâ??s Bidvest Wits 1-0 despite playing the entire of the match with just 10 men.

Namibia won the match 36-29 while Korea stole the hearts of the rugby public here in the playoff for fifth place in the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy in Santiago.

The Koreans started the match in a confident mood and it was quite clear from the early exchanges that they would provide Namibia, the favourites, with a tough challenge. While the Korean ball control improved in leaps and bounds from the outset of the tournament and to a large extent secured the continuity of their attacks, it was the slick passing and the timed release of the ball in the tackle that kept them going.

A goal in the first minute by Danny Chilufya gave Civics a 1-0 victory over Fedics United in their MTC NFA Cup quarterfinal match on Sunday, April 27.

Civics immediately attacked from the start and a shot by Floris Diergaardt was parried away before Chilufya followed up to put the rebound into the net.

Two clinical goals by Pineas Jacob gave Ramblers a 2-0 victory against Tigers in their MTC NFA Cup quarterfinal match in Mariental on Sunday, April 27.

Ramblers had most of the early possession but couldnâ??t break through Tigersâ?? defence, which was well marshalled by Lubigisa Lubigisa.

African Stars had to withstand a late onslaught by Hotspurs before winning their MTC NFA Cup quarterfinal match 2-1 to progress to the semifinals of the competition on Saturday, April 26.

Stars went on the offensive from the start and only some desperate defending kept them out. With Getzen Ndjiharine and Brouwers Litombo providing some great crosses, Ninja Karongee, Silver Suriyari and Andrew Tjahikika all came close to scoring.

Cymot SKW scored a late equaliser an then went on to beat Black Africa on penalties to progress to the semifinals of the MTC NFA Cup in Mariental on Saturday, April 26.

Black Africa seemed to be heading for victory after an early goal by Jerome Louis, but SKW midfielder Sledge Gowaseb pulled back a late equaliser to force the match into penalties.

Namibia gave a polished performance to beat Lesotho 4-0 in their African U17 qualifier at the Khomasdal Stadium on Friday night.

Namibia held a comfortable lead after beating Lesotho 5-0 in the first leg in Maseru a fortnight ago and it was Lesotho who came out attacking, looking for an early goal.