BOOSTED by home turf advantage, current Bank Windhoek Fistball League champions, Cohen Fistball Club, won the Bank Windhoek Fistball National Cup tournament held over the weekend in Windhoek.
The National Cup takes place after the Bank Windhoek Fistball League and was the final event of the Namibia Fistball Association season.
The National Cup tournament, which was divided in two groups, saw seven participating teams compete for the top honours. CFC 1 defended the title in Category A, while Swakopmund Fistball (SFC) emerged as winners of Category B.
The fixtures kicked off with games between CFC 1, SFC 1 and Sport Klub Windhoek 2 (SKW 2) who made up Category A. As expected, CFC 1 easily swept away its opponents during the group fixtures. SKW 2 finished second in the group, which allowed the team to book a spot in the Category A semi-finals.
Category B saw SKW 1, SFC 2, CFC 2 and CFC 3 compete for bragging rights in this group. SKW 1 secured the first place, while CFC 2 defeated their club mates CFC 3 and SFC 2. SFC 2 also got beaten by CFC 3 and had to be satisfied with a fourth spot at the end of the group stages.
SFC 1, CFC 3 and SFC 2 were thus relegated to Category B and played in a round robin mode to determine the winner.
“Things got exciting in the match between CFC 3 and SFC 1, which ended in a 28-28 draw. Because SFC 1 won with more ball points against SFC 2, the fistballers from the coast were crowned the Category B national champions,” said Fistball Association of Namibia’s media officer, Helmo Minz.
CFC’s first and second teams met in the Category A semi-final, with CFC 1 winning convincingly. The record champion SKW 1, marginally won against its second team, SKW 2, who also put up a fight in the second semi-finals. CFC 3 won the third and fourth place match against SKW 2 in the Category A.
Arch-rivals CFC 1 and SKW 1 faced each other in the final match of the day after the conclusion of the group fixtures. CFC 1 started off stronger and won the first set 11-5, but SKW grew stronger and taking advantage of CFC 1’s service errors they won the second set 11-8.
Filled with confidence, SKW started off stronger in the third set and led 5-0 before CFC 1 register their first point. However, CFC 1 fought back and finally won the set 15-13.
In the last set, CFC 1 stepped up the tempo and leaving nothing to chance they won the set 11-7 to clinch the Bank Windhoek Fistball National Cup. “This marks the end of a perfect season for CFC, who have been dominant throughout the 2019 Bank Windhoek Fistball National League,” said Minz.
CFC 1’s Wilko Hoffmann walked away as the Player of The Day winner, while SKW 2’s Robert Caspary, won the Most Valuable Player award. CFC 1’s defender Thilo Wilckens, was awarded with the Player of the Year trophy.
“Bank Windhoek congratulates the Namibian Fistball Association on another successful year of organising this year’s league and national cup. We are proud of our longstanding partnership to promote this and other smaller sporting codes in Namibia and give them a platform to take their sports to greater heights. Bank Windhoek looks forward to continue its journey with the association and players in 2020,” Bank Windhoek’s public relations manager, André le Roux said.
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