Junior Queens back on track
Malawi Under-21 National Netball Team yesterday got back to winning ways at the ongoing World Youth Championship Africa qualifiers after seeing off Zambia 54-35 in Pretoria, South Africa.
Malawi led in all the quarters, registering 14-8 in the first quarter, 28-16 at half time, 43-23 in the third quarter and wrapped the match at 54-35.
It was a positive response from the team after Wednesday’s 44- 19 loss to hosts South Africa.
The team’s coach Christina Mkwanda said in an interview they lost to South Africa because of pressure.
“The umpire wasn’t good at all and the girls played under pressure. I told them we have to recover and be ready for Zambia. Our focus against Zambia was to win with more baskets. I told them not to lose hope,” she said.
Playing earlier, South Africa maintained their winning record with a 61-25 thrashing of Namibia.
Today, Malawi will face Zimbabwe in their final first round match.
Zimbabwe coach Tapiwa Chirenda was quoted in an interview with her country’s daily newspaper The Herald as having said they have to beat Malawi to stand a chance of qualifying for the 2025 World Youth Netball Championship in Gibraltar.
She said: “We need to beat Malawi and make it to the last four so that we can fight for a top three finish.
He said: “It is going to be an intense competition, but we are a strong team from both the attacking and the defensive end, our mid court has speedy young players who have the capacity to control the game.
The World Youth Championship is scheduled to take place in Gibraltar at the Tercentenary Sports Hall and Europa Sports Park between September 19 and 28 next year.
