Willemse Wins SA Junior Title

29 April 2011

Namibian youngster Rezano Willemse recently won the South African badminton singles title.

The talented Willemse also won the plate final together with Nita Scholtz in the mixed doubles category.

Willemse, who reportedly played a fantastic singles tournament, beat competition from 129 others to claim the coveted crown, earning him a fourth overall grade in the event. Other notable performers were Nita Scholtz and Rodicha Gaeseb, who reached the semifinals in the girls’ doubles event, where they were narrowly beaten.

“We are extremely proud of our young players taking into account that the Namibian Badminton Federation sent a team for the first time to compete in this category,” said NBF president Jürgen Leicher .

“Looking at the grading we can say that some of the players could have been in the South African top team if they had not been Namibians.”

According to Leicher, South Africa currently dominates badminton in Africa, which makes the results much significant for Namibia.

There were three sections and Namibia, which finished second overall, played in the A section together with the elite of South Africa’s provinces in the under-15 category.

“These results will inspire even more young badminton players in Namibia after seeing which fantastic results their friends have reached,” he said.

Namibia plans to compete at the following tournaments: u/13 South African Interprovincials (25 – 29 June); u/19 South African Interprovincials (9 – 16 July); Africa Juniors (24 – 30 July); u/17 South African Interprovincials (1 – 8 October).

Those interested in playing badminton at any level can contact Jürgen Leicher at 081 128 4183.

AllAfrica – All the Time