National Sports

Tabitha, Temwa face off in Chinese League

Malawi women’s football national team captain Tabitha Chawinga will this afternoon play against her younger sister Temwa in a competitive match for the first time as their respective clubs Jiangsu Suning and Wuhan Jiangda face-off in a Chinese Women Super League (CWSL) round-three match.

Prior to their imminent clash, the sisters had not played on the opposite ends, having played for the same clubs DD Sunshine in Malawi and Kvarnsvedens IK in Sweden.

And the timing of their meeting this afternoon appears to be perfect as both prolific strikers have so far scored two league goals that have helped their teams secure two-straight wins apiece since the Chinese League season kicked off last weekend.

Temwa (L) and Tabitha will be up against each other today

On Wednesday, Tabitha, 24, was on target as Suning thrashed Henan Jianye 5-0 to add on her strike in their opening match that saw the defending champions beating Hebei China Fortune 3-2.

On the same day, 21-year-old Temwa opened her goal account in the league following a brace that inspired Wuhan to a 5-0 thumping of Hebei in the second round match.

The Chinese media is already pregnant with expectations from the dead-eyed Malawian goal-poachers as they have dubbed the potentially explosive clash as  “the battle of sisters”.

On her Facebook page, Tabitha also expressed excitement with the imminent meeting with her sibling in the foreign league as she called on soccer lovers to watch the match.

She said: “Round-three of CWSL involves my team hosting my sister’s team on Saturday  and you are privileged to watch it live on CCTV-5.

“Call it the battle of sisters, the battle of champions and rookies, but one thing I can assure you is that you will watch a grand game of two teams with good football.”

In an interview yesterday, Tabitha said “it will be fun” to play against her sister and that she feels blessed to rub shoulders with her in a foreign league.

On her part, Temwa described the impending clash as a difficult one.

“Both our teams have won all their league games so far and none is willing to drop points. Moreover, Tabi has the same number of goals as I have and we will try our best to score more. I cannot wait to get into the field of play this Saturday,” she said.

Last season, Tabitha helped Suning win the CWSL title for the first time in a decade. She was recently named Player of the Year for the second time in a row after reclaiming the league’s golden boot.

Temwa joined Tabitha in the CWSL in January after signing a two-year deal with Wuhan. Last season, she played for Kvarnvedens IK.

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