National Sports

Diamonds meet over GOtv Netball loss

Defending champions Diamonds are set to meet tomorrow to discuss their shoddy performance during the first-round of the GOtv Netball Champions League at Don Bosco in Lilongwe last weekend.

The team’s coach Griffin Saenda, who was not present when the side suffered a thumping 15-29 defeat by their rivals Complex Tigresses on Saturday before drawing 19-19 with Blue Eagles, said yesterday they want to correct their mistakes in time before the next round of the contest at Blantyre Youth Centre (BYC) in two weeks.

Diamonds player enjoys her game
Diamonds player enjoys her game

“We will meet as a team on Thursday to find out what went wrong last weekend because we want to defend the title at all cost. As you know, my deputy (Noel Mussa) was in charge of the team in Lilongwe and we have to seat down and see how we can rectify the problem.

“However, we do not blame anybody for the loss because we are participating in the competition as a team,” said Saenda.

Despite that, Saenda admitted that the absence of their key players Jessie Mazengera-Sanudi, Alinafe Kamwala and Enelesi Mdezo, who are currently nursing babies, has plucked some energy from the outfit.

At the end of the first-round, Diamonds stand second on the six-team log table with seven points from three wins, a draw and a loss, the same as third-placed Eagles who are inferior on basket difference.

Tigresses lead the pack with 10 points from five-straight wins while Civonets, MTL Queens and Mafco lie fourth, fifth and sixth with three, two and one point respectively.

According to Netball Association of Malawi (NAM) general secretary Carol Bapu, the competition will have four rounds.

She said each team will play five games in each round. Don Bosco was spotted as the host for first and third rounds while BYC is expected to hold the second and finals.

Champions are expected to get a K1.5 million first prize. All the six participating teams received K1 million starter packs.

 

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