Malawi National Netball Team co-coach Mary Waya has attributed the team’s fourth-place finish in the Africa Netball Cup in Namibia to lack of consistency.
Reacting to the team’s loss to Zimbabwe in a third-place play-off, she said they noted that in every match, the players lost concentration after the second quarter.
Malawi trailed 13-14 in the first quarter, 19- 25 in the second quarter 32-36 in the third and 32-48 in the final quarter.
Said Waya: “We started the match well, but unfortunately our girls were not consistent in their passing, dodging and even their defending. The first quarter went on well because we were leading by one basket.
“In the second quarter, we ended up losing touch which made it difficult for us to come back into the match after trailing the third quarter. Following our analysis we had in the past games, we need to go back and see where do they go wrong for them not to be consistent.”
However, the former Queens captain applauded her charges for showing a glimpse of potential in the team’s rebuiding exercise.
“I am very happy for the girls’ performance throughout the tournament starting with the first game, second game, third game and fourth. We are using young girls that have just come through.
“This is their first competition. So, being their first competition, you can imagine playing with big teams. To them and I as a coach, it’s an achievement. They have showed that they are capable of doing it. With time, the Malawi team will not be the same again.”
In the semi-finals against Uganda on Friday, Malawi also gave away a six-basketball lead in the first quarter to lose 41-34.
They also lost to South Africa with a 30-goal margin after trailing with four baskets in the first quarter.
Netball Association of Malawi president Vitumbiko Gubuduza described the performance as a mixed bag.
She said: “In every situation, we must take away the positives and negatives. We finished on fourth position down from second in the last Africa Netball tournament. So, that is not definitely a good finish. But we have exposed the players and we need to be patient and see how the team will respond as we proceed with the rebuilding. The coaches, certainly have a big job ahead. Let’s be patient.”
Former Queens captain Emmie Chongwe, elder sister to coach Waya, said it was the worst result for the Queens in the competition.
“The biggest problem is that we don’t prepare very well for big tournaments like these. You can see Namibia’s performance that after Mary Waya spent three months in building that team now its yielding results,” she said.
