Namibian archers excel at African Champs - Submitted by Helge Schutz, 14/04/2006
A Namibian Invitational archery team excelled at the African Target Shooting Championships and the South African Archery Championships which took place in Cape Town on April 1-3, 2006. Namibia's team of seven archers won a total of 14 medals as well as five additional prizes.
A total of 111 archers from three countries South Africa, Namibia and Mauritius participated in the championships.
Gold medals at SA nationals
At the South African National Championships, Namibia's juniors did particularly well. Dirk Bockmuhl won the gold medal in the Junior Mens Under 18 category, while Henk van Blerk won the gold medal in the Cadet Boys Under 16 category. In the same category Namibias Francois Marais won silver and Oliver Rohrmuller won bronze.
Raimund Rohrmuller also won gold in the Boys Under 13 category.
Jan van Blerk came 9th overall in the senior mens category.
African Champs
Namibia then entered two teams that participated among 14 others in the African Target Shooting Championships. Team 1 consisted of Jan van Blerk, Dirk Bockmuhl and Heiko Redecker, while Team 2 consisted of Henk van Blerk (14 years), Francois Marais (14) and Oliver Rohrmuller (13).
Team 1 was soon eliminated, but Team1 excelled to beat the senior men and womens teams of Western Province, as well as Mpumalangas senior mens team to progress to the finals. Here the Namibian junior team eventually lost to the senior mens team of Gauteng to finish fourth.
Van Blerk wins gold
Namibias results in the individual categories at the African Championships were as follows:
Junior Men Under 18: Dirk Bockmuhl 2 silver medals.
Cadet Boys Under 16: Henk van Blerk gold, Francois Marais silver, Heiko Redecker bronze.
Boys Under 13: Raimund Rohrmuller gold
Team competition: Windhoek Field Archery & Bow Hunting Club 4th
Namibias shottists won the following additional prizes:
Jan van Blerk, Dirk Bockmuhl, Henk van Blerk, the Windhoek Bowmen/Ramblers Club and the
Windhoek Field Archery & Bow Hunting Club won additional prizes at the championships.
Representatives and managers of the South Africa and Mauritius praised the Namibian for its exceptional performances.