Mwawi’s return delayed

Netball export Mwawi Kumwenda’s anticipated return to action after a year-long absence due to a knee injury has been shifted to next weekend.

The lofty shooter was conspicuously missing in her Australian club Melbourne Vixens’ 63-57 victory over Adelaide Thunderbirds on Sunday.

Prior to the encounter, she had announced her comeback on her Facebook page.

But Australian publication Brisbane Times reported: “Kumwenda will have to wait at least one more week to resume from a ruptured ACL [anterior cruciate ligament], having been called into the expanded squad.”

Vixens host West Coast Fever next Saturday.

Kumwenda could not respond on whether her exclusion from last weekend’s match means she has not fully recovered from her prolonged injury or it was just Vixens’ coach Simone McKinnis’ game plan.

However, her local manager Hlupikile Chalamba yesterday confirmed Kumwenda was on the sidelines but said she needed more time to find out the reasons.

“I am coming from the UK [United Kingdom]. So, I will check with her   once I arrive in Malawi. Otherwise, she was on the bench,” she said.

Mwawi’s announcement that she would return to action for her club stirred controversy in the local netball circles, with some wondering why she was getting back on court barely a few days after the Queens completed their fixtures at the Netball World Cup in Liverpool, England.

The Queens, who have dropped three places from sixth to ninth on the International Netball Federation (INF) world rankings, finished on sixth position at the end of the global showpiece.