The 20th edition of The Namibian Newspaper Cup kicked off at Oshakati, in the Oshana region on Friday, after a two-year hiatus due to restrictions enforced on account of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Executive Director in the Ministry of Sport Youth and National Service Erastus Haitengela said the tournament plays a very important role in developing future national team players for both football and netball.
“We just witnessed our netball team the Desert Jewels in the African World Cup Qualifiers in South Africa, and soon we will see some under 20 footballers representing Namibia at the Council of Southern African Football Associations (Cosafa) tournament in South Africa soon,” he said.
Oshana Region, Governor Elia Irimari in his remarks, said sports have the potential to enrich the lives of Namibians hence the need for developmental tournaments of such nature.
“Let me assure you that this tournament promises serious competition and colourful matches in both football and netball competitions. I, therefore, call on other corporates to support sports to help us achieve success in sports,” he said.
Meanwhile, in the field of play, football was dominated by draws as four of the first five matches ended in one-all draws.
Karas kicked off the defence of the title with a one-nil victory over Kavango West, while Otjozondjupa versus Kavango West, Outjo versus the Zambezi, Kunene versus Hardap and Oshana versus Erongo all ended in a draw.
In netball, game one saw Omaheke account for Hardap 25-15, while in game two Oshikoto triumphed over Kavango East 20-18 and in game three Otjozondjupa accounted for 30-16.
In game four, Khomas accounted for the defending champions Erongo via 28-21 and Ohangwena beat Kavango West 22-14 in game five. Game six saw Oshana 30-25 against Kavango East.
The tournament continues until Sunday when new champions will be crowned.
Below are some of the results for the matches that were played until the early hours of Saturday;
Match No 6: Oshikoto 0-0 Omaheke
Match No 7: Otjozondjupa 1-1 //Kharas
Match No 8: Zambezi 1 – 0 Kavango West
Match No 9 : Hardap 1-2 Ohangwena
Match No 10 : Kunene 0-1 Omusati
Match No 11: Khomas 3-1 Erongo
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
