Germany and Austria were crowned the men and women´s champions at the Fistball Youth World Cup in Swakopmund on Sunday, while Namibia´s men ´s team finished sixth and their women fifth.
Namibia´s men´s team first lost their quarterfinal encounter 3-1 against Austria before coming up against Chile in the fifth place playoff match.
Namibia had beaten Chile 3-0 in their first pool match but this time Chile prevailed in an exciting five setter. Chile won the first two sets before Namibia staged a great comeback to draw level.
With the crowd cheering Namibia on, they rallied back to 7-9 in the final set. Namibia however lost their composure in the final moments as Chile held on to win the set 11-7 and the match, with the result that Namibia finished sixth overall. The set count was 14-12, 11-5, 2-11, 2-11, 11-7 in favour of Chile.
In their quarterfinal encounter, Austria beat Namibia 11-4, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9.
Germany finished first in the group stages to qualify automatically for the final where they met Switzerland, who beat Brazil 3-1 in the semifinal.
In an exciting final, Germany became the world champion after beating Switzerland in a tough five-setter, 15-13, 9-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-4.
In the playoff for third place, Brazil beat Austria 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-8).
Namibia´s women´s team finished fifth and last after losing their quarterfinal match 3-0 to Brazil (11-8, 11-1, 11-9).
Austria qualified directly for the final after finishing first in the group stages. In the final they faced Germany who beat Switzerland 3-0. Austria was too strong for Germany, winning the final 3-0 (11-2, 15-14, 11-8) to become the world youth champions.
In the third place playoff Switzerland beat Brazil 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 13-11).