U18 boys face tough schedule at World Champs

Fistball
Jesse Kauraisa
  • 1 Month Ago 24 October 2024
Namibia’s national under-18 boys fistball team will depart tomorrow (25 October) to Llangquihue, Chile.

The team is set to compete in the U18 World Championship and is aiming to impress on the global stage.

Fistball Association of Namibia spokesperson Helmo Minz said: “The team has been preparing well over the past months, including at a week-long training camp in March at which three Austrian coaches contributed.”

Namibian veteran Michael Baas, as U18 head coach, with Swiss national Stefan Grögli as his assistant selected a final squad of nine players that will feature at the tournament.

The last time a Namibian junior team participated at a competition of such nature was in 2014.

The Namibian team will return to the competition, hoping to make history by progressing further in the tourney.

“Fabian Greifeneder from Austria will support the coaching team.

“The team will play two friendlies against Switzerland and Austria two days before the kick-off of the main tournament on 31 October,” Minz added.

Namibia will face each of the other eight participating nations, playing each match in best-out-of-three sets.

On the first match day, Namibia will battle it out against Denmark, Switzerland, European and world champions Germany as well as South American powerhouse Brazil.

On 1 November, Namibia will play Austria, before taking on Argentina and India.

They will then battle it out against the host team Chile on 2 November in a match that is expected to produce fireworks.

The team’s progress into the knockout phase will depend on the table standings after the preliminary round.

The coaching staff and the Namibian Fistball Association has set a target of finishing at least in the top six positions at the event.

“The team aims to finish at least in the sixth position, because that will reflect well on how far the country has come in terms of fistball development,” Minz said.

The selected Namibian players: Enjo Biederlack, Michael Krauer, Dominic Egner, Marcel Diekmann, Alex von Wietersheim, Hanjo Lorck, Benjamin Lang, Kiano Böhme, Marko Russmann.