Malawi Under-21 National Netball Team beat Cook Islands 61-54 to finish seventh at the 2025 Netball World Youth Cup in Gibraltar.
The result means they have matched their highest finish at the global showpiece as they did the same in 2009 on Cook Islands.
In Sunday’s match, Malawi led 15-12 in the first quarter before Cook Islands crawled back into the game to force a 28-28 stalemate at half-time.
Malawi pulled away in the third quarter, stretching to a 47-39 lead, before registering a seven-basket victory.
Malawi coach Noel Mussa said they were happy with the victory and the experienced gained at the global event.
“It feels good to have a happy ending to our journey at this prestigious competition. It was a wonderful experience and we have learnt a lot of lessons that will help us to be a better team as we return home,” he said.
At the Netball World Youth Cup, Malawi registered four wins against Trinidad & Tobago, Fiji, Barbados and Cook Islands and had three losses to South Africa, New Zealand and Scotland.
By press time, defending champions New Zealand were up against Australia in the final while England were taking on South Africa in third-place playoff.
