Africa-Press – Namibia. The finalists for the Namibia Annual Sport Awards were announced on Tuesday evening with numerous categories to be contested at next month’s gala occasion in Ongwediva.
Many of the finalists excelled at continental level, while some also produced world-class achievements at international level.
However, there are a few notable ommissions, especially in the sportsman of the year category, where the finalists are kickboxer Delano Muller, boxer Fillipus Nghitumbwa and volleyball player Jura Krafft.
Muller became the African senior 75kg champion at the World Association of Kickboxing Organisations Africa Championships in Johannesburg last December, while five months later he won a gold and a silver medal at a World Fight Sport tournament in Germany.
Nghitumbwa has built up a professional record of 17 wins and two defeats in the super bantamweight division and is currently ranked eighth in the world by the World Boxing Organisation (WBO).
Since his last defeat almost two years ago against John Casemiro in the Phillippines, he has put together a run of five victories, winning the WBO Africa Super Bantamweight title in the process.
Jura and his brother, Max, qualified for the World u21 Beach Volleyball Championships in Mexico when they won the gold medal at the Africa u21 Beach Volleyball Championships in Morocco in June.
In Puebla, Mexico, they lost all three of their matches and eventually finished joint 25th out of 47 nations.
Namibian top male swimmer Ronan Wantenaar, however, is a notable ommission after a great year during which he established himself among the world’s leading breaststroke swimmers.
In December he became Namibia’s first-ever semi-finalist at the Short Course World Championships in Budapest finishing 16th overall in the 50m breaststroke, while at the Long Course World Championships in Singapore in July, he repeated the feat, before coming 10th overall.
In the latter event he narrowly missed out on a place in the final, while his time of 26.94 seconds made him the 15th fastest swimmer over the distance in the world this year.
Namibian cricket captain Gerhard Erasmus also had a great year during which he established himself as one of the world’s leading cricketers. In January he won the ICC associate cricketer of the year award for the second time in three years, and in October led his country to their fourth successive T20 World Cup at the Africa qualifier in Zimbabwe.
Besides his leadership skills he was also one of the world’s leading all-rounders during 2025, ranking 13th in the world in One Day International (ODI) cricket and 18th in the world in T20 cricket.
Namibian spin bowler Bernard Scholtz also produced world-class performances, taking the most ODI wickets in the world this year, while he is currently ranked sixth in the world.
The sport award finalists are as follows:
Sportsman of the year: Muller (kickboxing), Krafft (beach volleyball), Nghitumbwa (boxing).
Sportswoman of the year: Emilia Ekandjo (rhythmic gymnastics), Monica Gomases (netball), Vera Looser (cycling).
Sportstar of the year: Jonathan Kasheeta (boxing), Nghitumbwa (boxing), Jerome Rooi (NNPC).
Professional athlete of the year in the diaspora: Deon Hotto (football), Looser (cycling), Peter Shalulile (football).
Junior sportsman of the year: Burton Weakley (Africa Genesis Archery Namibia), Nathan Chase (Namibia Triathlon Federation), Roger Suren (Namibia Cycling Federation).
Junior sportswoman of the year: Ashley Martins (Athletics Namibia), Kayla Duchaine (Namibia Gymnastics Federation), Jessica Humphrey (Namibia Aquatic Sports Federation).
Sportsman of the year with a disability: Ananias Shikongo (Namibia National Paralympic Committee (NNPC)), Elifas Nghikevali (Disability Sport Namibia (DSN)).
Junior Sportsman of the year with a disability: Job Haindongo (NNPC), Quinton #Gaeb (DSN).
Junior Sportswoman of the year with a disability: Ndapewa Ipinge (NNPC), Keila De Oliviera (DSN).
Sportswoman of the year with a disability: Johanna Benson (NNPC), Selma Uusiku (DSN), Vitjituaije Master (DSN).
Coach of the year: Hans du Toit (cycling), Naomi Schmidt (Paralympic sport), Janis Stergiadis (swimming).
Referee of the year: Emily Durand (aquatic sports), Antsino Twanyanyukwa (football), Zaid Isaacs (rugby).
Sport team of the year: Debmarine Desert Jewels (netball), Namibia Open Water Swimming team, Senior women’s indoor hockey team.
Federation of the year: Namibia Aquatic Sports Federation, Cricket Namibia, Namibia Hockey Union.
Development programme of the year: Cricket Namibia: Ashburton Kwata Cricket; Namibia Hockey Union: PSI Indoor Junior Nationals; Disability Sport Namibia: Special Olympics Namibia.
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