Malawi wins 9 medals at Africa Draught Tourney

Malawi defied all odds to win nine medals at this year’s African Draught-64 Championship in Lusaka, Zambia.

Susan Kachepa won six medals in the women’s category while Enock Makoka Banda hauled three medals in men’s category.

Out of the medals, Kachepa won five gold and one bronze.

In an interview, Kachepa said she was looking forward to better results at the world competition.

“I am done with African Championship. I am looking forward to the World Championship [to be held in Turkey next year]. I will continue training hard so that I should continue do well in international games,” she said.

On his part, Banda said it was not easy to win the medals.

“I thank God that I managed to scoop two silver medals and one bronze medal. Otherwise, the competition was very tough,” he said.

Association of Draught in Malawi president John Ngwenya, who accompanied the team, said he was impressed with players’ performance.

“I am very happy with the performance. Medals plus the title for Malawi despite poor preparations, it’s a big achievement.

“The team had only a day of preparations in camp and inadequate funds. We thank the government and all individuals who supported us.

“We are hopeful that we will do better in 2024 during the World Cup Tournament in Turkey,” he said.

With the feat, the two Malawian players have automatically qualified for 2024 World Cup Championship to take place in Turkey.

During the contest, Malawian player James Solobala earned Federation Master title.

The eight-day African Draught-64 Championship ended on Saturday.

Eight African countries and two guest countries Russia and Bulgaria attended.