Namibia makes history at World Tournament

Namibia’s African Genesis Archery (AGA) national team recently made history after it secured all team gold medals up for grabs at the recently concluded AGA World Tournament in Walvis Bay.With a turnout of over 250 best-of-the-best archers gathered at the Jan Wilken Indoor Sports Complex from Wednesday until Saturday, the tournament turned the harbour town into a vibrant arena of precision and sportsmanship.Junior, senior and adult archers came from as far as Canada, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa to put their marksmanship to the test against the country’s talent in bull’s eye and 3D disciplines.Historic milestoneThe national team’s historic milestone is complemented by the country’s development team, which also extended its dominance at the tournament with a similar feat of a clean sweep of gold medals in the bull’s eye and 3D disciplines, as well as overall rounds.In the national teams, Namibia was seconded by South Africa overall, followed by Canada. The development team was seconded by Canada overall, ahead of Zimbabwe in third.Reflecting on the team’s achievements after three days of tough competition, Namibian team coach Hilma Kambonde said the victory was especially meaningful and was much-needed to put the country on the global map in archery.“Our archers worked hard to reach this level of competition. The sportsmanship shown during the national ranking competition and throughout this tournament was excellent. I am proud of the team and the organisers. Of course, not to forget the parents who cheered on our athletes,” Kambonde said.Individual standoutsThe national team standout archer was Willem van der Merwe from Windhoek Afrikaans Private School, who won gold in bull’s eye, silver in 3D and silver overall.Van der Merwe also won silver in the tournament’s overall bull’s eye individual category and bronze for the combined overall individual rankings, which include both bull’s eye and 3D performances.Development team standout archers were Lume Kolver from Berg-Op Academy (won silver in 3D), AJ van Niekerk from Moria Private School (secured gold in 3D, silver in bull’s eye and silver overall), Michael Basson from Community Hope School (won bronze in 3D) and Teresa Kasomba, also from Community Hope School, claimed gold in bull’s eye and silver overall.In the African Genesis Archery (AGA) team, Marionette de Waal from Walvis Bay earned a bronze medal in the 3D round.Continental recognitionAn AGA World Team was chosen that consists of the top sixteen archers of the tournament. Namibia’s Willem van der Merwe, Burton Weakley and Ru-Wayne Bezuidenhout made the team cut.A friendly was also held between AGA Africa’s last year team and a team from Canada, where the Africa team won by only 59 points.AGA Namibia confirmed that the next World Tournament will be held in Canada in 2027. AGA Namibia president Poenie Weakley was chosen as the vice president of AGA Africa at the tournament.

Namibia makes history at World Tournament

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Namibian Sun 2025-11-04

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Namibia makes history at World Tournament

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Namibian Sun 2025-11-04

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