Diamonds retain Rainbow Paints championship in style
Kukoma Diamonds successfully defended the Rainbow Paints Blantyre and Districts Netball League (BDNL) title with an unbeaten run at Blantyre Youth Centre (BYC) on Saturday after beating Thunder Queens 48-37.
Diamonds experienced their toughest test in the 10-team league this season but, in the end, they triumphed over Thunder Queens, whose defeat denied them a historic runner-up finish.
The mouth-watering encounter saw the outfits tying 10-10 and 21-21 in the first two quarters before fatigue started to take its toll on Thunder players in the third segment that ended 34-29.
With Emily Jere and Jessie Kamwendo giving Diamonds’ defenders Towera Vinkhumbo-Nyirenda and Linda Mvula tough time under the loop, Thunder appeared to be on the right path to glory when they scored three baskets at the start of the quarter.
However, it did not take long before the Jessie Mazengela-Sanudi-led Diamonds attack settled the scores and even put it beyond Thunders’ reach with an 11 baskets lead at the end of the game.
“This was probably our toughest match of the season,” said Diamonds assistant coach Noel Mussa.
“We are really happy that we managed to pull together and win the match to protect our perfect record.”
On her part, Thunder coach Christina Mkwanda-Nsinji attributed their defeat to fatigue because of poor preparations.
“My charges did not have proper training due to financial challenges. As a result, they did not build up enough endurance as they easily got tired as the game progressed,” she said.
Diamonds, who received K1 million being champions, completed the season with 36 points from 18-straight wins while Tigresses settled for the second place on better basket margin after tying on 28 points with third-placed Thunder. Serenity Stars beat rivals Prison Sisters 58-52 to finish fourth as Chilomoni Sisters triumphed 45-40 over Shizaella Queens to take sixth position.
Rainbow Paints Limited sales executive Jangale Chiosa said they were impressed with the league’s competitiveness this season and promised continued sponsorship while Netball Association of Malawi (NAM) president Khungekile Matiya thanked the company for supporting the league, which contributes a lot of player to the national team.
