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Civonets sign out of GOtv title battle

Civonets versus Tigresses at BYC on Saturday
Civonets versus Tigresses at BYC on Saturday

Civonets officially signed out of the battle for title in the GOtv Netball Champions League after losing their two third-round matches at the Blantyre Youth Centre (BYC) on Saturday.

For losing 31-51 to Bingu Tigresses and 38-46 to MTL Queens, Civonets are now in the five-team contest just in principle because they would not emerge among the top-three teams even if they won all their remaining six games, including their encounters against Diamonds and Blue Eagles Sisters, which they played as we went to press.

Since the start of the competition, the Lilongwe-based side only managed a 42-39 win over MTL Queens out of their 10 matches. They will wind up their fixtures on 14 points if they win their last six games.

However, that target has already been exceeded by Diamonds and Tigresses. Before their fixtures on Sunday, Diamonds topped the log table with 16 points while Tigresses followed with 15 points.

Blue Eagles Sisters maintained the third slot on 10 points after their respective 39-33 and 48-44 defeats by the Diamonds and Tigresses while MTL Queens remained fourth with seven points.

Civonets coach Connis Mhone attributed her team’s poor form in the Gotv League to lack of tall players and their featuring of inexperienced players.

“It has been a tough competition for us. Most of my girls were not exposed to such a high level competition and they were very nervous during our games. It is also because we do not have tall players. However, we will come well prepared next season,” said the former Malawi Queens star.

During their encounters on Saturday, Civonets had centre Tina Kamzati and goal-attacker Jane Chimaliro as the only old guards. Despite that, they tried hard to pull their wagon closer to the Promised Land, but luck was not on their side. Against MTL Queens and the Tigresses, they only had one-basket and three-basket deficit after the first quarters respectively.

The champions of the Multichoice Malawi-sponsored tournament will be known this weekend at Don Bosco in Lilongwe, where final round games will be played. The winners will get K1 million (about $2 500).

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