Diamonds, MTL Queens make Rainbow Paints semis grade
Defending champions Diamonds and MTL Queens have made it into the K2 million Rainbow Paints Top Six Netball Series semi-finals following their success during the three-team Pool A qualifiers at Blantyre Youth Centre (BYC) on Sunday.
Diamonds beat Queens 28-21 and Woget Stars 38-14 to win the group with six points while the Queens came second with three points after thumping Stars 33-20.
The two sides will now face Glass Bank Sisters and Tigresses respectively in the semi-finals at the same venue on Saturday to determine who will battle for the crown on the same day, according to Southern Region Netball League (SRNL) general secretary Annie Hanjahanja-Billie.
The Pool A qualifiers were delayed because Diamonds and MTL Queens had contributed a good number of their players to the Malawi Queens squad that participated at the recent Fast5 Netball Series in New Zealand.
Despite their defeat to Diamonds, MTL Queens appeared an improved team as they created a seven-basket deficit to bridge the yawning gap that used to exist against the perennial regional champions.
The youthful Queens side that had national team defender Joana Kachilika as the only experienced player, never stopped fighting even when it seemed obvious in the first-half that they lacked enough courage and zeal to cut a succession of quick, long and crispy passes among their bigger opponents.
They finally succumbed to Diamonds’ incisive pressure in the last two minutes of the game when they conceded a series of four baskets without replying.
Even in their encounter against Woget Stars, the Queens could have won with a much better scoreline if the likes of Memory Mwazani and Emily Jere had gained composure.
“We have learnt a lot from these matches. We made avoidable blunders and, at some point, we seemed naive. We hope to rectify these problems as we get to the semis next Saturday,” said Queens team manager Annie Sanga-Kapatuka.
