Namibia’s Men’s and Women’s Bowls teams have secured their places at the 2027 World Bowls Championships in England after producing a strong performance at the Africa States Bowls Tournament in Lusaka, Zambia.
Namibia finished second overall on 72 points, behind champions South Africa on 96 points and ahead of Kenya, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The result delivered a major prize beyond the medals, with both the Namibian men’s and women’s teams qualifying for the 2027 World Bowls Championships, scheduled to take place at Victoria Park in England. It will be Namibia’s first appearance at the world championships since competing at the 2023 event on the Gold Coast in Australia.
Namibia returned from Lusaka with four silver and three bronze medals, underlining the depth of the national teams across the various disciplines.
In the women’s triples, Diana Viljoen, Elzaan de Vries and Huipie van Wyk claimed silver after finishing behind South Africa on points aggregate, with Botswana taking bronze. Viljoen, De Vries and Van Wyk, joined by Bianca Lewis, also secured silver in the women’s fours.
The men matched that achievement, with Axel Krähenbühl, Colin Peake and Schalk van Wyk taking silver in the men’s triples, before Krähenbühl, Peake, Van Wyk and Christo Steenkamp added another silver in the men’s fours. Namibia’s bronze medals came through Marietjie van der Berg in the women’s singles, Waylon Wentzel in the men’s singles and Van der Berg and Lewis in the women’s pairs.
The tournament was played under challenging conditions at the Lusaka Bowling Club, with teams having to adapt to two dramatically different greens. One green was running at around eight seconds, considered extremely heavy, while the other was running at between 12 and 13 seconds, closer to conditions Namibian players are accustomed to.
Namibia’s players had to alternate between the two surfaces, demanding concentration, flexibility and rapid adjustment. Despite the conditions, Namibia remained in contention for the overall title until the final game. It was a great performance by the Namibian team as the Namibia teams stood strong and performed very well and remained in contention for gold until the final match.
South Africa ultimately claimed the overall title, but Namibia achieved its key objective by finishing in the top two. With qualification secured, attention now turns to England. The hard work will start as we prepare for England in 2027.
For Namibian Bowls, the Lusaka campaign has therefore delivered both a medal haul and a ticket to the world stage.
By Rudi Bowe
