Temwa meets her new teammates
China-based Malawian women’s football star Temwa Chawinga officially got to work last Wednesday when she trained with her club Wuhan for the first time since signing in January.
In an interview yesterday, she said she got a warm welcome from her new teammates.
Chawinga said: “Of course I had met some of them informally, but this was the first time for me to meet all my team-mates.
“My fellow players and the technical staff made me feel at home and I am happy,”
The Scorchers forward joined the Chinese Women’s Super League outfit on a two-year deal after mutually parting ways with Swedish side Kvarnsvedens with 18 months left on her deal.
She became the second Malawian to move to the Asian nation after her sister, Tabitha, but her arrival in Wuhan clashed with the emergence of the coronavirus in the city which is the epicentre of the pandemic.
The 21-year-old shot into the limelight in Europe since joining Swedish club Kvarnsvedens in 2017, scoring 59 goals in 57 matches, including 35 in 28 games in all competitions last season.
She was impressive on her continental campaign with the Scorchers, scoring six goals in four games and finished joint-second top scorer with her sister Tabitha in the CAF Women’s Olympic qualifiers.
Wuhan will be hoping to improve on their rankings and challenge for glory this season with the acquisition of Chawinga after they finished fourth last season with 19 points from 14 games.
Despite the lockdown easing after nearly three months in April, the striker was still worried about going out, having been indoors for 76 days, but insists she has not regretted joining the Chinese club.
Since mid-May, Chinese authorities granted clubs permission to resume training for the first time after the lockdown restrictions were eased.
According to goal.com, hopes of the league season kicking off in the coming weeks are now increasingly likely, with Guangdong, Changchun, Jiangsu Suning and now Wuhan resuming training.
