The coastal badminton tournament was held over the weekend of 12 and 13 May 2006 at Henties Bay under the auspices of the Badminton Union of Namibia (BUN). It was a great success because it was well attended by inland players, even though it was intended as an opportunity for coastal players to show their mettle. Inland players usually relish the opportunity to play at sea level because the oxygen content of the air is higher and this assists fitness, so that most games lasted well over 45 minutes. During such games in the world’s fastest racket sport, which originated 3000 years ago in China, players run nearly 6 km in short spurts! Then, there is an opportunity to jog along the beach rather than some dusty, hot inland path. And finally, we discovered that only if you are able to run up the Henties’ Dune five times in a row are you fit enough for competitive badminton!

Although the Henties Bay community hall was outfitted with two courts for the occasion, there was too little time to play singles. Eventually, the mixed doubles round-robin was won by Kobie Heesakkers and Leon Koch, who beat Liza Hanekom and Alfred Sumaili into second place. In an interesting and long competition, the mens’ doubles was won by Alfred Sumaili and Axel Rothauge, who beat runners-up Leon Koch and Arne Stier in a tight three-setter, while Kobie Heesakkers and Belinda Koch beat Liza Hanekom and Lynette Rothauge in the ladies’ doubles. All winners and runners-up received cash prizes and promotional items, sponsored with compliments by Standard Bank (Outjo branch).

The next event on the badminton calendar is the Namibian Closed Championship, scheduled for 16 and 17 June in Windhoek. This championship will be attended by the national selectors to pick teams for participa-tion in South African competitions, such as the Country Districts tour-nament (in Oudtshoorn in July) and the Veterans tournament (in Durban in August). It is thus vital that all bad-minton players in Namibia participate in this championship. It is open to all players in Namibia, not only to Namibian citizens. Interested players can contact Eddie Ward, chairperson of the host club Windhoek-South, at 0811281474 and Axel Rothauge, secretary of BUN, at 061-2064044.

Photo: "Henties.PrizeWinners": All the prize winners at the badminton tournament in Henties Bay over the weekend. Back row l.t.r. Axel Rothauge, Arne Stier and Kobie Heesakkers. Middle row l.t.r. Lynette Rothauge, Belinda Koch and Lize Hanekom. In front, Leon Koch (right), himself a winner, hands over prize money sponsored by Standard Bank (Outjo branch), to Alfred Sumaili.