Weekend Preview

The MTC Namibia Premier League takes centre stage this weekend with matches in Windhoek, Walvis Bay and Tsumeb.
African Stars went to the top of the log after beating Civics 2-1 on Wednesday night after a last minute goal by Ninja Karongee. Stars lead the log on seven points from three games, but can be overtaken by any one of four teams who all have a game in hand. SKW are second on 6 points while Eleven Arrows, Black Africa and Orlando Pirates are all on four points.

Soccer tops the bill this weekend as the second round of the MTC Namibia Premier League gets underway. The top of the table clash between Eleven Arrows and Orlando Pirates is the pick of the weekend’s matches. Both teams convincingly won their opening matches last weekend to go top of the log although Arrows have a slightly better goal aggregate.

The MTC Namibia Premier League gets underway with a cracking fixture between Orlando Pirates and Civics on Friday night.
Civics have been hit by the loss of their Player of the Season Jamu Ngatjizeko to African Stars, while another two Black Africa recruits Jerome Louis and Bryan Bantam have returned to Black Africa.
Pirates have a star-studded side, with new recruits like Mohammed Ouseb, the Brazilians Leandro, Allesandro and Eder and John Samson, but according to rumours their star midfielder Riaan Cloete has joined Eleven Arrows.

Talk about a full weekend of sporting activity!
The highlight on the local golfing calendar, the MTC Namibian PGA started on Thursday and continues through till Sunday when the fourth and final round will be played. Warren Abery of South Africa took an early twp stroke lead with a 7-under-par 64 but its still early days.
Of Namibia’s players, Joe Nawanga was well placed at a 2-under-par 69, while Jaco van Reenen was on two over 73, Christopher Durandt on eight over 79, Alec Williams on 10 over 81 and Adri Basson on 13 over 84.

The highlight on the annual sporting calendar the Namibia Sport Awards takes place at the Safari Hotel on Friday evening.
Namibia’s top sportsmen, women and administrators will be honoured at the glitzy event which is expected to be attended by about 500 guests from Namibia’s sporting fraternity.

In the Sportsman of the Year category the finalists are cricketer Gerrie Snyman, soccer player Jamu Ngatjizeko, endurance rider Frans Saubek, cyclist Erik Hoffmann and boxer Jafet Uutoni.

There’s not much sport on this weekend on the local front.
The annual Pupkewitz Schools Gala takes place at the Western Suburbs Pool on Friday and Saturday, while the Cycling National Time Trial Championships take place on the Kupferberg Road on the Western bypass, close to the Unam turnoff, starting at 08h00 on Sunday.

In Potchefstroom, Namibia’s cricket team takes on North West in their three-day SAA Challenge match.
Namibia were all out for 230 in their first innings, and at stumps on Thursday North West were on 82/1.

The semifinals of the MTC Rugby Premier and First Division leagues take place at the Hage Geingob Stadium on Saturday with two interesting matchups. The defending champions Reho Falcon take on Wanderers, whom they replaced as champions. In the other semifinal Western Suburbs, who finished on top of the log after the group matches, take on Rehoboth Rugby Club.

The Brave Warriors take on Zimbabwe in their final FIFA World Cup qualifying match at Windhoek’s Independence Stadium at 16h00 on Saturday afternoon.
Namibia is bottom of the log and out of the running for a place in the 2010 World Cup and African Cup of Nations finals, while Zimbabwe have a very small chance of going through to the next round. Their chances depend on the outcome of the other Group 2 match between Guinea and Kenya which takes place in Conakry at the same time.

Namibia's national cricket team takes on Ireland in an ICC Intercontinental Cup match at the Wanderers ground starting today.
A win or even a draw will ensure that Namibia reaches its first final in the ICC Intercontinental Cup competition. But Ireland will have to win the match to keep alive their chances of reaching the final, so Namibia can expect a tough match, especially since Ireland have won the competition for the past two years in a row.

Boxing tops the bill this weekend with Namibia’s welterweight champion, Tyson Uushona making his long awaited comeback on Saturday night.
Uushona, who is still unbeaten after 14 pro fights, hasn’t fought competitively for more than a year but has been training hard and is raring to go.
But it wont be easy as his opponent, Richard Hwata of Zimbabwe is a seasoned pro with a record of 16 fights, 12 wins and four defeats and could prove to be a difficult customer.