Wentzel and Viljoen are bowls singles champions Waylon Wentzel and Diana Viljoen were crowned Namibia’s singles bowls champions at the King Price National Bowls Week which concluded in Windhoek on Saturday. Following a week-long tournament with more than 300 players throughout Namibia, Wentzel beat Christo de Beer in the men’s final, while Viljoen beat Michelle Crawford in the women’s final. It was a very successful tournament for Viljoen, who won three titles in total, including the women’s trips category with teammates Bianca Lewis and Haley van Wyk, as well as the women’s fours category with Lewis, Elna Esterhuizen and Amy Peake. Schalk van Wyk and Claude Thorburn won the men’s pairs title after beating Graham Snyman and Christo de Beer in the final, while Lesley Vermeulen and Marinda Bezuidenhout won the women’s pairs title after beating Marietjie van der Bergh and Susan Venter in the final. The women’s fours competition went down to the wire, and the winners had to be determined on shot aggregate. Diana Viljoen, Bianca Lewis, Elna Esterhuizen and Amy Peake finished on 12 points and +46 shot aggregate to pip Marietjie van den Bergh, Anjuleen Viljoen, Amanda Steenkamp and Susan Venter (12 points +34 shots) to the title. Wentzel, Colin Peake, Freddie Fouche and JP Fouche won the men’s fours title after finishing three points ahead Schalk van Wyk, Dave Gibbons, Julian Viljoen and Gordon Damster. Viljoen said they got off to a good start in the women’s trips final against Anjuleen Viljoen, Miranda Bezuidenhout and Amanda Steenkamp. “In the trips I played with my sister Bianca Lewis and a very young bowler Haley van Wyk who is still at school, against very good opposition and an experienced team. We managed to get a good start and right from the beginning of the second end, we picked up a six, which is a full house in trips and that carried us through to win the gold medal,” she said. Viljoen said it was a very successful tournament and that bowls is growing in Namibia and the rest of the world. “The sport is becoming younger because it’s fresh. It’s not long white skirts, shirts and hats anymore, it’s really interesting with the clothing that they are wearing now – its become very modern. It’s becoming like that all over the world – women playing in short skirts like they would play tennis, so it makes it interesting for the younger players. “It’s also growing in our country. At the nationals there was a great turnout for the Novice Singles, which is for players with less than three years’ experience; the greens were packed, and it was fantastic to see so many bowlers and new people who had only started playing recently,” she added. The post Wentzel and Viljoen are bowls singles champions appeared first on The Namibian.

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Bowls Week champions to be crowned  The finals of the King Price National Bowls Week takes place tomorrow where the national champions in the various disciplines will be determined at the Windhoek Bowling Club. After about 300 players battled it out over the past week, the finalists for the singles, pairs and trips competitions have emerged, with several new champions due to be crowned tomorrow. In the men’s singles category, Waylon Wentzel and Christo de Beer have progressed to the final, while both last year’s finalists, winner Kat Steenkamp and runner-up Julian Viljoen have been eliminated. The women’s singles will also see a new champion after last year’s winner, Marietjie van den Bergh, was eliminated, with Diana Viljoen due to meet Michelle Crawford. Van der Bergh, however, has a chance to defend her pairs title after reaching the final with Susan Venter, but standing in their path is the formidable pair of Lesley Vermeulen and Marinda Bezuidenhout.  The men’s pairs category will also see new champions, with last year’s winners, Waylon Wentzel and Freddie Fouche, having been eliminated. Schalk van Wyk and Claude Thorburn, who were the losing finalists last year, get a second shot at the title when they take on Graham Snyman and Christo de Beer in tomorrow’s final. The men’s trips competition will see a new champion after the defending champions Julian Viljoen, Gordon Damster and Schalk van Wyk were eliminated, while Johan Jacobs, Claude Thornburn and Corny Stam will now battle it out against Horst Zimny, Berndt Muller and Piet du Plooy for this year’s title. The women’s trips will also see a new champion after the elimination of last year’s champions, Van den Bergh, Petro Breedt and Susan Venter. Tomorrow, Bianca Lewis, Hailey van Wyk and Diana Viljoen will battle it out for the title against Anjuleen Viljoen, Miranda Bezuidenhout and Amanda Steenkamp. Freddie Fouche will take on AJ Visser in the men’s singles plate final, while Van den Bergh will take on Amanda Steenkamp in the women’s singles plate final. Riaan Pretorius and Van den Bergh will take on Anjuleen Viljoen and Kat Steenamp in the mixed pairs final. The novice champions were already determined earlier this week with Kevin Maishatz winning the men’s title and Sankie Klose the women’s title. The post Bowls Week champions to be crowned  appeared first on The Namibian.

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