The countdown to the biggest soccer match of the year has begun with both Black Africa and African Stars in confident mood of winning Saturday’s derby.

At a press conference organised by Black Africa on Tuesday, African Stars coach Ali Akan and Black Africa assistant coach Eric Quest addressed the media, saying they were both confident of victory.

Quest said they had a lot of respect for African Stars but were determined to win Saturday’s match.

Namibian marathon athlete Beata Naigambo excelled when she came third at the Dongying Yellow River International Marathon in China on Sunday, May 12.

Competing against more than 7 000 athletes, Naigambo completed the 42km event in 2 hours 41 minutes 20 seconds.

The race was won by Jin Lingling of China in 2:38:52, while Selonie Kassa of Ethiopia came second in 2:40:44.

African athletes dominated the women’s marathon, with the next six placed athletes all coming from Kenya and Ethiopia.

Namibian Olympic shottist Gaby Ahrens won the women’s category at the South African Olympic Trap 2013 Championships which took place at the Wattlespring Gun Club in Johannesburg on May 11 and 12.

The South African Championships take place every year and it's an open event,
which allows athletes from other countries to compete for the title.

Ahrens won the Women’s Division which was shot over three rounds with a score of 59 out of 75. Diane Swanton came second with a score of 50 out of 75, while Samantha Pennels came third.

Diana Viljoen of the Rossmund Bowling Club and Will Esterhuizen of TransNamib Bowling Club were crowned the Champion of Champions at the Namibian National Bowls Championships which came to an end last Saturday.

Esterhuizen, who won the title for the third year in a row, also won the Men’s Singles title.

After seven action packed days of competition the outstanding players were crowned at the Eros Bowling Club near the Safari Court Hotel in Windhoek.

Namibian athletes excelled at the recent Steinmetz Marathon in Gaborone, Botswana, with Helalia Johannes leading the way.

In the Women’s 10km category, Namibia clinched three of the first four places, with Johannes winning in a new Namibian record of 32 minutes 34 seconds.

The previous record of 33:07 was also established by Johannes in Stellenbosch, South Africa in 2006.

She finished well ahead of the Olivia Chitate of Zimbabwe who came second in 34:07, while Namibia’s Lavinia Haitope came third in 34:19 and Namibia’s Alina Armas fourth in 34:55.