Namibia’s men’s team pulled off a great 3-0 victory against Chile at the Fistball Youth World Cup which started in Swakopmund on Thursday.
Namibia were soundly beaten by Brazil in their opening match but then regrouped and produced a great team effort to record their first victory against Chile.
Namibia’s women’s team lost their opening match 3-0 to Brazil.
Namibia 3 Chile 0
Playing in windy conditions, both teams displayed great defensive play, but Namibia, playing at a high tempo, broke through to take a 2-0 lead.
The highly motivated Namibian team charged to an 8-4 lead, but Chile did well to reduce the deficit to 9-8.
Namibia however called a time out which worked to their advantage as they won the next two points to take the first set 11-8.
With Namibia’s spiker Viggo von Scheliha and setter Helmo Minz combining well, Namibia raced to a 10-4 lead in the second set. Chile produced a brief revival before Namibia won the set 11-6.
Both teams were evenly matched in the third set with Namibia holding a slight 9-8 lead when they called for a time out. Spiker Von Scheliha served out confidently as Namibia won the set 11-8 to record a sensational victory that gave the home crowd plenty to cheer about.
Namibia 0 Brazil 3
Earlier, Namibia were soundly beaten by Brazil in their opening match.
Namibia started nervously and made some unneccessary mistakes in the opening set. Brazil took advantage and won the set 11-5.
Namibia took a 6-3 lead in the second set but lost their momentum after Brazil called a time out. Brazil fought back to equalise at 7-7 before going on to win the set 11-8.
With Brazilian spiker Patrick in great form, Brazil maintained the pressure, while Namibia still mkade too many unforced errors, especially on their serves. Brazil won the set 11-5 to win the match.
Namibia 0 Brazil 3
Namibia’s women’s team lost their opening match against a strong Brazilian team. Brazil started confidently, winning four points in a row to take a 8-2 lead. Namibia were struggling with their buildups and lost the first set 11-4.
Brazil maintained their dominance in the second set, winning a lot of points from their star player Christiane’s powerful jumping serves, to win the set 11-4.
Brazil varied their serves well in the third set while Namibia struggled with their serves as Brazil once again won 11-4 to take the match.
The results of other matches on Thursday were as follows:
Men:
Switzerland 3 Austria 0
Germany 3 Chile 0
Women:
Austria 3 Switzerland 0