NamibiaSport

By Chris Buckland

At Wanderers this weekend, Ian Rowett beat Tyc Kakehongo 11-4, 11-9, and 11-7 in the final of the men’s Top 16 squash event to become champion and further secure his number one ranking in the country. In the ladies final, Isabell Schnoor defeated Adri Lambert 11-7, 11-5 and 11-4 in her first year playing in the event.



Ian Rowett

Rowett had been untroubled throughout the tournament dropping only one game in the earlier rounds and in the final he proved, yet again, that he is an immovable object on court.

With disconcerting consistency, he made playing squash look easy; time after time hitting the ball to a good length, turning defence into attack with deft lobs and sly volleys and constantly trying to manipulate his opponent, Tyc Kakehongo, into making an error.

“With the scoring system and the heat there are not a lot of options; you’ve just go to keep the game going, play basics and make the other guy make the mistakes,” he said afterwards.

He was quick to praise Tyc as a difficult opponent, saying, “He is a tough competitor and he runs a lot, and is probably the hardest guy to play at the moment.”

He also laughed off talk of it becoming something of a routine to win this event, as he has done for the past few years, “It doesn’t get boring, as the pressure increases on me to do well and get to the final; I’m expected to win and it’s much bigger news if I’m expected to win and I lose. The pressure is on from the beginning and its pretty tough.”

Kakehongo, who was like lightening on court whilst retrieving, added that although he was disappointed to lose in the final, he was “chuffed to even get to this stage,” as with all of his coaching here in Windhoek he has barely trained. In fact, he joked that Sven Gruttemeyer, a student of his who he beat in a close semi-final game, had “sapped his energy for the final.”

Ian praised the work Tyc has been doing as coach in Windhoek with reference to Sven, (who finished third in the tournament), “It’s amazing to see the difference here. I played him a few months ago and it was easy. Then I played him recently and it was another story; he has really come on and that is really down to the work Tyc has been doing here.”

In the ladies final Isabell Schnoor was pushed by Adri Lambert, but never looked in danger of losing a game. In spite of her relatively comfortable victory, she was less than happy afterwards, saying that her performance was, “not good. Sometimes you come off court having won, but knowing that you haven’t played at your best.” She added however, that despite, “too many unforced errors,” she was very pleased with her victory.

Furthermore, she said that, following this strong start to the season, she was looking forward to her next event, the Windhoek Closed on March 28th, as she would be playing in the men’s draw. Here she pointed out, “It will be more of a challenge, even if I lose the matches, otherwise you don’t learn anything.”

Tournament organizer, and head of the Namibian Squash Association, Gerdus Louwrens, was delighted with the event and particularly with the juniors, “like Sven Grutttemeyer and Andrew Forrest, who are now starting to realise the potential we had seen in them.”

He added that the tournament, as well as being the opening competition for the season was vital in that, “It will give us a good idea of team selection for the county districts games coming up in South Africa, as well as selection of the squad for the All Africa Championships in Johannesburg in September. “

• The Windhoek “Closed” tournament takes place on March 28th at Wanderers

• One Africa will be broadcasting a squash special featuring highlights from both the men’s and ladies finals in the next couple of weeks.