Namibia found the going tough on the second day of the Youth Fistball World Cup with both the men and women`s teams losing to Austria.
Namibia 1 Austria 3
Namibia`s men`s team put up a great fight before losing 3-1 to Austria. After a furious start Namibia took a 3-1 lead in the first set. Namibian spiker Viggo von Scheliha made his mark with some hard hitting shots but not much separated the sides as they drew level at 6-all. Austria took a 9-8 lead and called for a time out which worked to their advantage as they won the first set 11-8.
The second set was once again a tight affair, with not much separating the two sides. With the Namibian fans giving great support, Namibia matched Austria point for point to make the score 7-all.
With Von Scheliha in great form Namibia took a 10-9 lead and then an 11-10 lead before winning the set 12-10.
Namibia started the third set badly with two unforced errors and called for a time out as they trailed 4-1. Namibia did well to force their way back into the match and drew level at 8-all but Austria finished stronger to take the set 11-8.
Namibia made a lot of unforced errors in the fourth set as Austria raced into a 7-0 lead. Namibia changed their attack, replacing Von Scheliha with Torsten Schmidt Dumont, but he didn’t make much of an impact as Austria won the set 11-2 to win the match 3-1.
Austria 3 Namibia 0
Namibia`s women`s team started nervously against Austria, whose spiker Ines Mayer was in fine form. Austria raced into an early lead before Namibia managed to pull within range at 7-4. That’s however the closest they came as Austria went on to win the set 11-5.
Namibia put up a much better performance in the second set with spiker Nicole Becker in fine form. Namibia managed to match Austria point for point, taking the score to 7-8, before the Austrians finished stronger to take the set 11-7.
Austria maintained their dominance in the fourth set with some perfect serves putting the pressure on Namibia. Austria were clearly in a different class and went on to win the set 11-3 to take the match 3-0.
The results of Friday`s matches were as follows:
Men
Germany 3 Brazil 1
Brazil 3 Switzerland 0
Germany 3 Austria 0
Women
Germany 3 Brazil 0
Austria 3 Germany 1
Switzerland 3 Brazil 2