Queens sink ‘neba’
Malawi Queens yesterday secured a comfortable 70-42 victory over neighbours Zambia at the African Netball Championship at Belleville Velodrome in Cape Town, South Africa. The win comes at the back of another impressive 72- 34 triumph over Kenya on Saturday and a 56-51 loss to hosts and the continent’s top-ranked team South Africa’s Spar Proteas.
While thanking God for the successive victory, Queens’ coach Peace Chawinga-Kaluwa said they have now shifted their focus to their encounter against defending champions Uganda’s She Cranes this afternoon. “We give glory to God for this impressive victory. We kept our consistency by leading in all quarters andthat was good for us,” she said.
“However, our focus is now on our next game against Uganda. We know it will be a tough game and any slip could
prove costly in our campaign.We cannot wait to get into this crucial encounter.” Malawi national netball team captain Caroline Mtukule-Ngwira concurred with her coach that they are determined to beat Uganda “because they are the ones that snatched our pride”.
The Queens, who are in search for a first continental title in eight years, played second fiddle to the She Cranes in the last two editions of the competition, which saw Uganda taking the ultimate glory.
The two slip-ups saw the Queens, who are seventh on the International Netball Federation (INF) World Netball Rankings and third in Africa, surrender the world’s sixth ranking and the continent’s second ranking to the She Cranes. Nevertheless, the Queens yesterday put up a dominant performance against Zambia; leading 16-12, 22-34 and 30-53 in the first three quarters before earning a 28-basket
triumph. In a match monitored on Digital Satellite Television’s (DStv) Super Sport Channel 213, the Queens approached the game cautiously as Chawinga-Kaluwa had to wait
until the last quarter to make some tactical changes. Martha Dambo went in for captain Caroline Mtukule- Ngwira, who was probably the best defender on the court with numerous interceptions. The impressive shooting duo of Joyce Mvula
