Becker and Pretorius clean up at Bandits Squash Open

NAMIBIAN men’s number one Marco Becker and Carin Pretorius, a former WISPA (Women’s International Squash Players Association) player, won their respective finals at the first-ever Bandits Professional Squash Association Open tournament held at Wanderers this weekend.

Becker fought his way through a 32-strong field consisting of players such as Sven Gruttemeyer, Angelo Titus, Archie Botha and Tyc Kakehongo and eventually triumphed over Archie Botha 3-0 in the men’s final late on Saturday evening. In the women’s event, Pretorius, newly arrived in Namibia from SA, saw off competition from a 16-woman draw including Adri Lambert, Nancy Fernandes and Carla Nortje – defeating Lambert in the women’s final 3-0.’The Bandits Squash Open will become a regular event on the Namibian squash calendar,’ stated organiser and sponsor representatives Tienie and Archie Botha. They added that this tournament was important for the development of Namibian squash, as it had been registered as an official Professional Squash Association event. This means that players earning their living on the professional squash circuit can earn all-important world ranking points if they participate and finish high up in events such as this.’This means that we can attract professional players to come and compete in Namibian squash events which will contribute to the growth and development of the game. The biggest event will be the Namibian Open in which we are sure to attract a number of professional players,’ Archie Botha said.In addition, Botha (who holds a world ranking of 385), observed that ‘Holding a PSA event in Namibia is important as it allows Namibian-based players to earn a world ranking, as well as attracting African-based pros who currently have very few ranking tournaments to participate in on their own continent.’This could really help with the junior players from our country who, with world rankings, could gain major benefit in exploring the possibility of university scholarships and international opportunities outside of Namibia,’ Botha concluded.Following the million-dollar Trustco squash initiative and the attraction of top players from Zambia and SA for last year’s Namibian Open, it certainly seems that this is another sign that Namibian squash is developing along the right lines.The full list of winners is as follows:Mens Cup: Marco Bekker, Archie Botha,Sven Gruttemeyer; Mens Plate: Ferdie Malherbe, Tienie Botha, Wouter Behr; Ladies Cup: Carin Pretorius, Adri Lambert, Nancy Fernandes; Ladies Plate: Natasja Esterhuizen, Liezel Wijgergangs, Gwen Lister.