Archers ready for youth champs

Five young Namibian archers who will participate in the World Archery Youth Championships in Wuxi, China, received a surprise visit from the Chinese ambassador to Namibia, Xin Shunkang, on Saturday.
At the time, Xander Reddig, Sebastian Fechter, Joubert Snyman, Ruan van Staden and the only female participant, Babette Taljaard, were busy with their final training sessions under the watchful eyes of coach Marja Woortman at the Sport Klub Windhoek (SKW) premises.
The Chinese ambassador visited the youngsters to wish them well in the international archery competition.
“You are the representatives of Namibia. Work hard, practise hard and when the Namibian national flag is hoisted during the competition, everyone will feel proud of you being there,” Xin said.
He invited the team for a farewell dinner at the Chinese embassy later this week.
Reddig is the only member of Team Namibia who will take part in the recurve category, which uses more traditional bows.
The rest of the team will take part in the compound category, which uses a modern, high-tech bow.
The 14-year-old Reddig from Tsumeb said he practises daily between two and three hours to ensure he is in top-notch condition when he lifts his bow during the Youth Championships in Wuxi.
“It's my life, I enjoy the sport very much,” Reddig told Nampa in a short interview.
Taljaard also expressed excitement to take part in Wuxi, saying “I just want to come back with more confidence and more practice from China”.
The Namibia Sports Commission (NSC) will foot the bill for the team's accommodation and transport.
The team will depart early next week for the World Archery Youth Championships - organised by the Chinese Archery Association - in preparation for the 2014 Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China.
Meanwhile, the president of the Namibia Archery Association, Frank Bockmuhl, informed this agency from Turkey where he is attending a World Archery Congress that Namibia will host the 2014 African Youth Archery Championships, which is a 2014 Youth Olympic qualifier for Africa, in April next year.

WINDHOEK NAMPA