Malawi Queens yesterday lost 50-45 to Uganda’s She- Cranes in a third-place play-off of the Vitality Quad Series at Copper Box Arena in London, England condemning them to a bottom place finish.
After a stellar show that saw the Malawi National Netball Team beating the She-Cranes by a 14-basket margin in round robin last week before standing toe-to-toe against South Africa on Saturday in which they lost by three baskets, the expectation was that the Queens would put the East Africans to the sword again yesterday.
In a match minotored on SkySport television, the Queens started brightly in the first quarter, making good use of three turn-overs to lead 14-11.
Then came the second quarter in which Malawi lost their rhythm, allowing the Ugandans to shake off their early lethargy and take control.
But needless mistakes and back passes, coupled by two misses by England-based star shooter Joyce Mvula compounded the situation for the seventh-ranked Queens as their confidence slowly fizzled out.
Inspired by their England-based shooter Mary Cholhok, who converted baskets without breaking sweat, the She-Cranes led 26-23 at half-time.
The third quarter was a closeaffair with end-to-end stuff as Uganda led mostly by two baskets and with an ounce of luck, the Queens could have turned it around.
However, Uganda held on to their nerve to lead 38-37.
In the last quarter, Uganda dominated, but defender Tendai Masamba’s suspension did not help the Queens’ cause as the She-Cranes took advantage of the numerical strength more to step on the gas and widen the margin to four baskets.
A missed attempt towards the end allowed the Ugandans to seal the victory with a five-basket margin through a brilliant last-minute attempt from a far by Chilhok. It was game over!
Queens’ captain Towera Vinkhumbo-Nyirenda admitted that: “We made silly mistakes that cost us the match. We were not consistent enough.”
On her part, Cholhok, who was named player of the match, said they were relieved to win a match at the tournament.
“I am really proud of the performance today. We really pushed hard,” she said.
England were playing South Africa’s Spar Proteas in the final as we went to press.
