Namibia off to strong start at Inline Hockey World Champs

**Namibia’s senior women’s inline hockey team got off to a strong start at the Inline Hockey World Championships in Asuncion, Paraguay this week, after winning their first four matches. **

Victories against the United States, Chile, Mexico and Brazil put Namibia in a strong position for the playoffs.

On Saturday they opened their campaign with a stunning 3-2 win against the world’s top ranked side, the United States after extra time.

Goals by Leighzene Coetzee and Christine Röttcher put Namibia 2-0 ahead at halftime but the USA drew level at 2-2 to force the match into extra time where Rottcher scored a dramatic winner.

It was only the USA’s fourth defeat over the past decade and came against great odds according to Namibia’s coach Dave Hammond.

“Our Nam girls left it all out there, staring adversity in the face. We came out focussed, determined and with a game plan and were rewarded with a 2-0 lead at half with a shot difference of 16-6 in our favour,” he said.

“The second half is where we had to dig deep and our true character came out. We suffered a massive loss losing Lana Bajorat due to a big collision. She is currently taking it day by day and will be given rest the next two days. We are hopeful she is back for the playoffs,” he added.

“Playing with a short bench in extreme heat we still found a way to slay the giant. Christine Röttcher scored the overtime goal which was her 2nd of the match assisted by Leighzené Coetzee who stole the puck off of USA down low and fed Röttcher who was all alone in the slot.

“Tears of joy filled the arena and Namibia received a standing ovation from the world, but the real story was the resilience and insane athletic ability of goalkeeper Michelle Wirtz, who saved 30 shots on net and posted a 93.3 save percentage. She played out of this world and made highlight save after highlight save. Needless to say she was awarded player of the match,” Hammond said.

Namibia followed that up with a ruthless display as they thumped Chile 19-0 the next day.

Rottcher was once again the top scorer with nine goals, while Coetzee scored six, Christine Gerber two, and Danielle Dobberstein and Vaike Wölbling one each.

On Tuesday, Namibia gave another impressive performance with 5-2 win against Mexico.

Namibia took a 2-0 lead after a brace by Coetzee, but Mexico struck back to draw level at 2-2. Namibia however stepped up their attacks and two more goals by Coetzee and another by Röttcher sealed a comprehensive win.

On Wednesday Namibia were in great form as they thumped Brazil 12-1. Röttcher was once again the top scorer with eight goals, while Dobberstein added two, ad Gerber and Wölbling one each.

Namibia’s women have excelled at the World Skate Games in recent years, winning the junior women’s gold medal in 2022 in Argentina and then winning the junior bronze bronze medal in Italy two years later.

Namibia’s junior men’s team, meanwhile, made a fine comeback after being thumped 12-3 by Spain in their opening match on 3 October.

Spain took a commanding 9-0 lead early in the second half before Max Ihms opened Namibia’s account, while Sascha Guttzeit and Abe van der Merwe also scored in the final stages.

The next day, Namibia, however pulled off a stunning 1-0 victory against the United States after Taneka Shilongo scored the winner midway through the second half, while goalkeeper Hadrian du Toit was the player of the match after making numerous great saves.

“With an incredible 42 shots faced — the most saves recorded by a goalie so far in the tournament — he kept USA off the scoreboard when Namibia needed him most. Save after save, he held the line and gave the team the chance to fight for the win,” Hammond said.

Namibia also dug deep to beat Chinese Taipei 4-3 after extra time.

Goals by Abe van der Merwe, Lucca De Azevedo and Vigo Bajorat put the teams level 3-3, before Bajorat got the winner in extra time.

On Monday they suffered their first defeat after going down 5-4 to Czechia in another extra time thriller.

Namibia’s goals were scored by Bajorat (two), Rigo Hellmich and Abe van der Merwe.

The post Namibia off to strong start at Inline Hockey World Champs appeared first on The Namibian.