Malawi Queens have been drawn in Group A alongside Australia, England, South Africa, Tonga and Northern Ireland in the 2026 Commonwealth Games scheduled from July 25 to August 2 next year in Glasgow, Scotland.
Ranked eighth in the world, the Queens will begin the campaign on July 25, 2026 against fifth-ranked South Africa before taking on 12th-ranked Northern Ireland the following day and fourth-ranked England on July 27.
They will be up against top-ranked Australia on July 28 and will conclude the group fixtures with a clash against ninth-ranked Tonga on July 30.
In conventional netball, Malawi Queens have never beaten Australia and England while they beat South Africa only once in their last six meetings, having tasted a 58-51 victory at the 2015 Netball World Cup.
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Against lower-ranked Tonga and Northern Ireland, the Queens have been dominant but have been winning their recent matches with narrow margins.
NAM technical director Joseph Mazaza described Malawi’s pool as a Group of death.
He said: “Historically, we have struggled against Australia and England, with no wins in conventional netball. Our matchup against South Africa is also daunting, having won only once in our last recent meetings in the Netball World Cup.”
Mazaza said the Queens need to prepare thoroughly for the games they are to overcome South Africa, England and Australia.
He said: “We have shown dominance against Tonga and Northern Ireland, winning recent games with narrow margins. Considering our team’s transition process after key player retirements, it’s a challenging time for us.
“However, with the intensive preparations we are undertaking we have hope that we can still beat the teams since in a competition every competitor fights for the first position.”
With the Malawi Queens undergoing the transition process following the recent retirement of a number of key players such as goal attacker Jane Chimaliro, goal-defender Carol Mtukule-Ngwira and shooter Sindi Simtowe-Msowoya, former Queens star Anne Mopiha said there is a need for intensive tune-ups for Malawi to do well.
She said: “There is a lot that needs to be done for the team to be in good shape ahead of the Commonwealth Games. Of Course.
“We have seen a lot on youngsters coming up through the developmental stages but they are yet to master the team’s philosophy.
“We also do not have enough skilful tall players to cope with the growing demand for good heights in modern netball.”
On her part, Malawi Queens coach Peace Chawinga-Kalua said she could not comment on the draw.
“At present, I can only comment about the forth-coming Africa Netball Cup [which Malawi will host from December 8 to 14 this year],” she said.
Group B has second-ranked New Zealand, third-ranked Jamaica, sixth-ranked Wales, seventh-ranked Uganda, 10th-ranked Wales and 11th-ranked Trinidad & Tobago.
Malawi Queens’ best finish at the Commonwealth Games was fifth during the 2010 and 2014 editions.
In the last two editions in 2022 and 2018, the Queens finished seventh.
Malawi’s most remarkable performance at the Games was in 2018 in Gold Coast, Australia when they beat second-ranked New Zealand 57-53 in a major upset.
