Archery set to welcome Africa's best

The Archery Association of Namibia (AAN) will host the 11th edition of the Federation of African Archery Championship next year. Namibia had outbid Egypt to get the rights to stage the event which is set to take place at the DTS Grounds from January 28-31. The tournament will also act as a qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as well as the World Games in Wroclaw, Poland in 2017. Speaking at a press conference to announce this, AAN president Frank Brockmuhl said that Namibia has received permission from the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC) and the blessings of the Namibia National Olympic Committee (NNOC). “We are 90% ready to host the event… up to 85 archers from 13 countries are expected to compete in the championship,” he said. Those countries consist of Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Malawi, Benin, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Mauritius, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Libya with the hosts Namibia completing the line-up. The competition will be open for both Recurve and Compound archers. “It will be a relatively tough competition,” Brockmuhl stated. While Africa has three quota places for the Olympic Games, the AAN president said that the final choice of archers that will represent their respective countries will be determined by World Archery. “They have a minimum standard for those spots and they will have the final say regarding who goes to the Games… but they will be drawn from the top three winners in the Recurve competition,” he said. Archers in the Compound division are only eligible for the World Games in 2017. As far as Namibia’s chances are concerned, the administrator said that the likes of Francois Marais, who is the defending African champion, and Ben van Wyk will be right up there in the men’s Compound competition. Similarly the likes of Ilana Malan, Elisabeth Taljaard and Beanta Viviers will give their rivals a tough time in the women’s Compound event. “We are novices in the Recurve division and even though Xander Reddig, who is still a junior, will be one to watch, we cannot expect much as we don’t want to put too much pressure on him,” Brockmuhl said. AAN expressed their gratitude to Cordon Beverages, Executive Auto Repairs, Afro Pumps and Metal Craft, Your Butt Archery Supplies, Trophaendienste and Dundee Precious Metals for helping to make the event a reality through their generous sponsorship. Namibia will host a training camp for its archers a week before the championship takes place. HECTOR MAWONGA