One Nico Top 12 Netball Cup sponsor Nico Group says they are delighted with the thrills of the inaugural season and are eager to make the next edition even more exciting.
NBS Bank chief executive officer Temwani Simwaka, whose company is one of Nico Group’s subsidiaries, said this on Sunday during the national finals at Don Bosco Netball Courts in Lilongwe.
Lilongwe-based Blue Eagles emerged as the inaugural champions after beating Blantyre-based giants Kukoma Diamonds 37-29 in the final that was spiced up by performances from urban musicians Piksy and Zeze Kingston.
Said Simwaka: “Through this sponsorship, we have not only developed netball as a sport, but we are also promoting wellness among athletes.
“We have also noted that this event has brought great excitement among netball lovers. We believe in netball and we believe in sports.
“We believe that when we invest in sports we uplift and inspire. The One Nico Top 12 Cup has proved to be more than a sporting event, but part of girls’ empowerment and a great entertainment platform for the public.”
Eagles took home K5 million winners-prize while runners-up Diamonds got K3.5 million. Civonets received K2.5 million as a third-placed team and Tigresses got K1.5 million for taking fourth place.
In individual awards, Eagles’ centre Takondwa Lwazi was named both the tournament’s most valuable player and best centre. Her team-mate Ruth Kaliyenda got the best shooter accolade.
The best defender award went to Martha Dambo of Civo Nets.
Both Netball Association of Malawi president Vitumbiko Gubuduza and netball legend Mary Waya, who represented the Ministry of Youth and Sports, thanked Nico Group for investing in sports, saying the talent will translate into the national team success.
