England invites Queens, Dubai tourney cancelled
England Netball has announced the cancellation of the Dubai Quad Series which was scheduled for next month.
In an e-mail to the Netball Association of Malawi (NAM) on Thursday, England Netball did not give the reasons for the cancellation, but instead has invited Queens to tour England in May.
The Dubai Quad Series had pulled South Africa, England, Jamaica and Malawi.
NAM had wanted to use the event to prepare for the Commonwealth Games to be hosted in Glasgow, Scotland in July.
NAM president Rosy Chinunda has confirmed the two developments.
“It is, of course, a setback, but we have also received an invitation to tour England in May. We are just waiting to hear the conditions. England were to pay for all expenses in our agreement to participate in the Dubai Open. Now, we are not sure if the conditions remain the same,” said Chinunda.
She said she is yet to inform government about the two developments.
The England tournament will also pool together England, Jamaica, South Africa and New Zealand. The five teams will also face each other in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
“It is almost the same tournament as the one which was supposed to take place in Dubai. The only change is the host country and the addition of New Zealand,” said Chinunda.
South Africa are equally disappointed as they were looking forward to the Dubai games.
“This could have provided us excellent preparation for the Games,” said Netball SA’s (NSA) director of selection Christine du Preez in an interview with The Citizen on Thursday.
Meanwhile, NAM is in a race against time to register the Under-20 squad that is supposed to play in the Zone VI tournament in Zimbabwe.
“Despite the tournament taking place in December this year, March is the deadline for registration. We have engaged the Malawi Schools Sports Association (Massa) and Mary Waya to identify players for us. Waya is doing that through coaching clinics she is conducting across the country,” said Chinunda.
