Namibia: Contentious Sport Awards Tonight - AllAfrica.com
THE Namibia Sport Awards (NSA) take place on Friday night with nominees in 12 categories facing off to win some big prizes.
The NSA have once again been controversial, with the judges scrapping four categories for not reaching certain targets, while there were also some surprising omissions, with the Namibian u19 cricket team's absence being the biggest talking point.
They made history at the Junior Cricket World Cup by beating the defending champions South Africa and becoming the first Associate nation to reach the knockout stages. They eventually finished seventh overall, with the result that they qualify automatically for the next Junior Cricket World Cup in 2019.
In their absence, the senior rugby team, the women's hockey team and the Paralympic relay team will battle it out for the NBL Sport Team of the Year award which carries a financial prize of N$100 000.
The senior rugby team lost all its matches at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, but picked up a first-ever bonus point to eventually finish 18th out of 20 teams. This year they retained the Africa Cup, while also coming third at the Nations Cup in Romania, and are currently ranked 20th in the world.
The women's hockey team finished fourth at the Africa Olympic qualifiers in November last year, while they finished second at a Four Nations tournament in Durban, where they also beat the eventual champions South Africa. They are currently ranked 14th in the world in indoor hockey.
The Paralympic Relay team qualified for the Rio Paralympic Games where they qualified for the final, but missed out on a medal after coming fourth.
The finalists for the MTC Sportsman of the Year, which also carries a N$100 000 reward are boxer Paulus Ambunda, karateka De Wet Moolman and marathon runner Mynhardt Kauanivi.
Ambunda, who has already won the title three times before, retained his IBO super bantamweight title against Jason Cooper in December last year, but six months later relinquished it to Moises Flores of Mexico. Ambunda is however still ranked in the top 15 in the world by the WBO.
Moolman was Namibia's outstanding athlete at the the JSKA World Championship in July where he won four gold and two silver medals.
Kauanivi qualified for the Olympic Games after coming 19th at the Cape Town Marathon, while he came 70th at the Rio Olympics.
The MTC Sportswoman of the Year award also has a N$100 000 reward and will be hotly contested by cyclist Vera Adrian, marathon runner Beata Naigambo and shooter Gaby Ahrens.
Adrian qualified for the 2016 Olympics after making history by becoming the first Namibian female cyclist to win gold at the African Championships - she won two gold medals in fact, in the road race and the individual time trial.
Naigambo also shone internationally, winning the Valencia Marathon in a record time in November 2015 while she came 41st at the Olympic Games.
Gaby Ahrens qualified for the Olympics after winning the African Championships title, while in Rio, she narrowly missed out on a place in the final, finishing ninth overall.
The Nampower Sportsman of the Year with Disability finalists, also worth N$100 000 in prize money sees power lifter Ruben Soroseb up against Paralympic stars Ananias Shikongo and Johannes Nambala.
Shikongo emulated Johanna Benson's achievement at the London 2012 Paralympic Games when he won a gold medal in the T11 200m in Rio, while he also won two bronze medals.
Nambala won two silver medals in the T13 100m and 400m, finishing the latter in a world record time, but missing out on the gold medal by a mere 0,06 seconds.
Soroseb also qualified for the Paralympic Games where he came ninth in the Men's 107kg category.
Johanna Benson and Rosa Mandjoro are the finalists for the Nampower Sportswoman with a Disability of the Year award which also carries a N$100 000 reward.
Benson qualified for the Rio Paralympic Games where she reached three finals, finishing seventh in the T37 100m, eighth in the 400m and sixth in the long jump.
Mandjoro represented Namibia at the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships where she came sixth in the T13 200m.
There will also be trophies and financial rewards for the MTC Junior Sportsman and woman of the Year of N$50 000 each; the Nampower Junior Sportsman and women with Disability of the Year of N$50 000 each; and the FNB Most Improved Sportsperson of the Year; the Coca-Cola Coach of the Year; and the Coca-Cola Umpire of the Year of N$30 000 each.
The most lucrative prize of N$200 000 will be awarded to the Sport Achiever of the Year, which will be determined by the judges, after considering all the entrants in the various categories.
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