The national team finished in position four with 142 points, behind South Africa who accumulated 211 points, Zimbabwe with 197 points and Namibia with 150 points. The team dropped the title they won in Windhoek, Namibia, in 2022. The Botswana Darts Association (BODA) public relations officer, Thato Maphorisa, said the team has won 10 medals, one silver and nine bronze medals. He said other countries came prepared. “My players are good but other players were better. It was not easy for us going to the competition as one of the combis that we used developed mechanical problems along the way. That might have had some psychological effect on the team,” he said. Alongside the games, there was Region V Annual General Meeting (AGM), which the Botswana delegation missed due to late arrival. Maphorisa explained that only the tournament director attended the AGM while other members missed out.
“We are still waiting for him to brief us on what was discussed during the AGM but what I am aware is that it was not elective,” he said. The veterans had a good start to the competition, beating Namibia 14-2, only to suffer heavy defeat of 12-4 to South Africa. The team recovered to beat Eswatini with a close margin of 9-7 and lost 5-11 to Zimbabwe, settling for position three. The senior men's team lost 16-20 to Namibia in their opening game and went on to suffer a heavy defeat of 33-3 to South Africa. Botswana went on to suffer another defeat of 21-15 to the host country, Eswatini, went down 25-11 to Malawi and another loss of 25-11 against Zimbabwe. The team finished in position six. The Under-25 team won a bronze medal after picking a 12-4 win from Namibia, lost 10-6 to Eswatini and another loss of 11-5 to Zimbabwe.
The senior women’s team won by tie breaks against Namibia and Eswatini. The side lost 10-6 to the marauding South Africa and went down 9-7 to Zimbabwe. The women’s pair of Malebogo Chidubi and Boipelo Masimele scooped a silver medal. The nine bronze medals were won by Shimanyana Lebakeng and Ompaletse Siane (Veterans), Marius Poloka and Lame Poloka (Youth), Thatayotlhe Robert and Laone Kereteletswe (Youth), Robert (Boys singles), Poloka (Boys singles), Poloka (Girls singles), Youth team, Women’s team and Veterans team. On the Masters Challenge, Keneilwe Kabanna settled for position two and went on to scoop position two in the Open singles. Maphorisa explained that there are no medals in the Masters category.
