Weekend Preview

Cricketers under pressure

Namibia’s national cricket team continues their CSA three-day encounter against Border on Friday with their backs to the wall. The visitors dominated the opening day’s play on Thursday and declared their first innings at 275/5. In the final session they dismissed Namibian opening batsman Gerhard Rudolph for 2 to leave Namibia struggling at 20/1.

Namibia will be looking for big contributions from recalled batsmen Sarel and Louis Burger, as well as Raymond van Schoor, captain Craig Williams and Norbert Manyande.

Talk about an action packed weekend of sport! This weekend Namibian sporting enthusiasts will be spoilt for choices as they can pick and choose between a host of activities, including some top class international events. Eight countries will be participating in the second leg of the Inter Series Motocross event at Gallina MX Park outside Windhoek on Saturday, while southern Africa’s top golfers continue to battle it out at the MTC Namibian PGA at the Rossmund Country Club outside Swakopmund.

A full weekend of sporting activities is in store with soccer, rugby, hockey, inline hockey, swimming and amateur boxing on the menu. The MTC Premiership continues with some exciting matches, with the Katutura derby between African Stars and Black Africa tonight, topping the bill.

In rugby, the MTC Premier League semifinals are scheduled to take place at the Hage Geingob Rugby Stadium on Saturday evening. United take on Kudus in the first semifinal at 18h00, while Western Suburbs face Rehoboth in the second.

The 2009/10 MTC Premiership kicks off this weekend with Tigers taking on Orlando Pirates in the opening match at the Sam Nujoma Stadium on Friday night. With new coach Brian Isaacs at the helm, Tigers already sounded an early warning when they won the FNB Football Expo on August 30, beating Eleven Arrows in the final. Pirates however have a star-studded team and are the defending Cell One NFA Cup champions so they should start off as the favourites.

Namibia’s Brave Warriors take on Swaziland in an international friendly football match on Saturday afternoon.

The match which takes place at the Sam Nujoma Stadium in Katutura starting at 16h00, will be the first international match that Namibia will play on the artificial turf which was installed at the beginning of the year.

The MTC Rugby Premier League reaches its climax this weekend when Wanderers take on Rehoboth at the Wanderers field on Saturday. A lot will be at stake, as the winning team will qualify for the semifinals while the losers will be eliminated from the knockout stages of the competition. United (53 points), Suburbs (43) and Kudus (40) have so far qualified for the semifinals of the Premier League and will be joined by the winner between Wanderers (38) and Rehoboth (37).

The MTC Rugby Premier League is heading towards an exciting climax as the top teams battle it out for the final four semifinal places. With only two rounds of matches remaining, only log leaders United are assured of a semifinal place.
The other three spots are still wide open, with up to six teams still in the running for the remaining three semifinal spots.

Rumble in the Namib

The highlight of this weekend’s sporting activities takes place at the Windhoek Country Club on Saturday evening when Paulus “The Hitman” Moses will defend his WBA lightweight title against Takehiro Shimada of Japan.
There will be several other fights on the undercard including two Pan African title fights. Tickets have been going like hotcakes but there might still be a few left at the Namibia Boxing Control Board.

MTC Rugby League

The MTC Rugby Premier League continues with two crucial matches on Saturday.

We have a full weekend of sporting activities ranging from rugby, soccer, netball and hockey to swimming, gymnastics and inline hockey. The National Short Course Swimming Championships take place at the NSA Pool in Olympia from Friday to Sunday, while the Bank Windhoek Central Zone Gymnastics Championships take place at the Windhoek Showgrounds.

In soccer the final playoff matches for promotion to the Premier League take place with Blue Waters, Friends and Invincible still in the running.

MTC NPL Awards

One of the highlights on the annual soccer calendar, the MTC NPL Awards takes place at the Safari Hotel on Friday evening. Three players have been shortlisted for the Player of the Season award, namely Jerome Louis of Black Africa, Ninja Karongee of African Stars and Rudolph Bester of Eleven Arrows.

Louis is already guaranteed of winning the Top Goal Scorer of the Season award after finishing top with 22 goals in 21 matches throughout the season. Other awards on offer include the Coach of the Season, the Team of the Season and the Chairman’s Award.