The Netball Association of Malawi (NAM) has set qualification for the 2027 Sydney Netball World Cup and a top-three finish at the Africa Netball Cup as its targets for the continental tournament.
The Africa Netball Cup is scheduled for September 19 to 26 in Kenya and the Queens will depart Malawi on Sunday September 13 2026.
corporate affairs Mbumba Mlia Ndasauka.| Courtesy of NAM
NAM secretary general Yamikani Kauma told Nation on Sunday on Thursday that the players and coaches, who entered camp on Wednesday at their base the Queens House in Blantyre, are determined to meet the targets.
She said: “They are working hard to qualify for the 2027 Sydney Netball World Cup and also at least finish third in the Africa Netball Cup.”
NAM is yet to release the provisional squad, but Kauma confirmed that Malawi international Mwawi Kumwenda, who plays for Peninsula Waves, in Australia will be available for the tournament.
Under World Netball rules, the hosts and the six highest-ranked teams automatically qualify for the World Cup.
The automatically qualified teams include hosts Australia who are also ranked first, South Africa, ranked fifth, and Uganda, ranked sixth, as well as New Zealand, Jamaica and England, who are ranked second, third and fourth, respectively.
The remaining 10 places will be contested through continental qualifiers, with two teams from each of the five continents; Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and Oceania securing qualification.
Malawi will face the likes of Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria in the African qualifiers.
Netball analyst Joseph Chalera thinks the Queens may meet their targets but said they need to step up and beat traditional opponents South Africa and Uganda.
He said: “We need to strategise on how we can beat obvious opponents. It won’t be good if way say we want to qualify and still loose to the same teams.”
Meanwhile, the Malawi men’s national netball team, the Kings, will depart on September 16.
Kauma said the target for the Kings is to gain international exposure, as the tournament will be only their second international assignment noting that the team did not win any match in their previous tournament.
