Namibia eyes World Champs after continental gold

Namibia’s beach volleyball sensations Max and Jura Krafft are now poised for the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) U21 Beach Volleyball World Championships to be hosted by Mexico in October.This comes after their success at the Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB) Continental U21 Championships, where they clinched the country’s first gold medal at the African showpiece, concluded in Morocco’s Martil last weekend.The Krafft brothers enjoyed their run at the tournament, managing an undefeated feat throughout the group stage, supplemented with a series of straight-set victories.In the quarter-final, they first put 2-0 past Cameroon to book their place in the semi-final, where a tough Egypt side made them drop their first set but they recovered to win 2-1.The final saw them take on Mozambique, who had beaten the Namibian pair of Luca Kesselmann and Fabian Biederlack in the semi-final, but held their own to outclass the opposition with a straight-sets victory.‘Truly special’Speaking to this publication, the Krafft brothers said winning the country’s first title “feels truly special,” as it was their goal headed into the tournament to finish in the top five and make the world championships cut.“We are relieved and proud to have put Namibia on the map. Representing our country at the level where we took on Africa’s best, especially getting past a tough Egyptian side, was an honour.“We are very proud of ourselves and all our supporters on and off the court, especially Namibia Volleyball Federation (NVF) president Tobias Eden Mwatelulo and everyone from the beach volleyball division,” they said.Reflecting on their matches, the Krafft brothers said they used their previous games as a benchmark for the upcoming ones and tried not to repeat similar mistakes, while focusing on bettering the positives.“We focused on control, consistency and composure, ensuring we adjust our game approach to fit different opponents,” they explained.Bronze-medal finishNamibia’s second men’s team of Kesselmann and Biederlack also impressed with an undefeated feat in the group stages and an eventual bronze-medal finish.In the quarter-final, they took on the hosts Morocco and won in straight sets to book their place in the semi-final, where they fell to Mozambique.However, they were awarded third place on the podium after Egypt, their scheduled opponents for the bronze-medal match, withdrew due to injury.Valuable experienceRomy and Piroschka Lück gained valuable experience despite suffering a tough group-stage exit from Egypt and Morocco.They also impressed when they held their own in placement matches to win their playoffs and secure a ninth-place finish out of 12 teams.– mariud@nsh.com.na

Namibia eyes World Champs after continental gold

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