Hoaseb guarantees Namibia's first Commonwealth medal

Namibia is assured of its first medal at this year's Commonwealth Games after boxer Philip Hoaseb advanced to the men's 55kg semi-finals with a hard-fought 4-1 split decision victory over Alex Mukuka of New Zealand on Tuesday evening.

The quarter-final triumph guarantees Hoaseb at least a bronze medal and keeps alive his hopes of becoming Namibia's first boxing gold medallist at the Games since Jonas Junias Jonas' 2018 gold medal in Australia's Gold Coast.

Speaking after securing his third consecutive victory in Glasgow, a confident Hoaseb said: "I said it before, and I'm going to say it again. I'm a Namibian. We don't get knocked out. We win."

He admitted it had been a demanding contest but remained focused throughout.

"It was a good fight. It was a tough fight, but I made it look hard for myself," he said.

Looking ahead to the semi-finals, Hoaseb believes he has the team around him to go all the way.

"As long as I have my coaches with me, we can handle anything because we have God with us."

Despite already securing a medal, the Namibian has his sights firmly set on the top step of the podium.

"I want straight gold."

Next challenge

Hoaseb will return to the ring tomorrow, when he faces India's Jadumani Singh Mandengbam in the men's 55kg semi-final. Victory will see the Namibian boxer progress to the gold medal bout. Tryagain Ndevelo was also scheduled to be in action last night at 20:45 against Guernsey's Niall Adams in the men's 60kg quarter-final after the article went to print.

Fellow boxer Gebhard Ipinge bowed out of the competition after a narrow 3-2 split decision defeat to Australia's Paul Trainor in the men's 80kg Round of 16.

Swimmers in action

Namibia's swimmers continued to impress by adding more national records. Jessica Humphrey produced one of the standout performances of the day, winning her heat of the women's 50m butterfly in 26.33 seconds on Tuesday, setting a new personal best and Namibian Open Record while breaking a national mark that had stood since 1996.

Luke Beukes also set new Namibian Open and 17 to 18 age-group records in the men's 50m butterfly, clocking 24.82 seconds to win his heat.

Oliver Durand narrowly missed out on the next round in the men's 400m individual medley, finishing ninth overall in 4:27.85 as first reserve, while José Canjulo recorded a personal best of 2:26.68 to place 14th overall in the men's 200m breaststroke.

Bowls greens

On the bowls greens, Diana Viljoen made a winning start to the women's singles competition with a straight-sets victory over Kenya's Eunice Wambui Mbugua yesterday.

"This is what I'm built for. I absolutely love playing singles," Viljoen said after the match, adding that the support from back home had been felt throughout the tournament.

Viljoen was scheduled to return to the green yesterday at 17:25 against Shae Wilson of Norfolk Island as the round-robin competition continued.

Meanwhile, Waylon Wentzel and Ronald Steenkamp opened their men's pairs campaign in style with a straight-sets victory over Botswana, taking the opening set 6-1 before edging the second 4-3 on Tuesday evening.

With Namibia already assured of its first medal through Hoaseb and more boxing, bowls and swimming events still to come, Team Namibia's encouraging campaign in Glasgow continues to gather momentum.

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