Queens pay the price

M

alawi Queens today leave for the 2023 Netball World Cup qualifying tournament in Pretoria, South Africa, feeling the pinch of their drop on world rankings which has further burdened the taxpayers.

Netball Association of Malawi (NAM) general secretary Isaac Chimwala confirmed that government will spend K70 million for the Queens’ participation in the week-long qualifiers that will throw off this Saturday.

“For us, we have no option, but compete in the qualifying tournament if we are to secure a slot in next year’s Netball World Cup. It is a tough experience, but it is a must,” he said.

Chimwala said the qualifying games are also important for ranking as they are rated matches.

“While we could argue about the cost implications of taking part in the qualifying games, we should as well understand that this event will help us gain some rating points,” he said.

But Malawi National Council of Sports spokesperson Edgar Ntulumbwa yesterday said the latest development is a huge concern because money spent on the qualifiers could have been used for other initiatives such as grassroots netball development.

He said: “If we had a chance of automatic qualification, we could have opted to excuse ourselves from the qualifiers and save a lot of money for other activities such as grassroots netball.

“It is our hope that as the Queens leave for the qualifiers, they should pull up their socks and try their best to move back into the top-six brackets on world rankings. We will all be very happy.”

Queens coach Peace Chawinga-Kaluwa yesterday said they have done their best to be in good shape.

Only six top-ranked teams in the world automatically qualify and the Malawi national netball team’s slip from  sixth position to seventh means they have to start their campaign from scratch by competing in the qualifiers at all cost if they are to earn a slot in the finals of the global competition scheduled for South Africa next year.

Previously, the Queens avoided the qualifiers in 2017 when they opted out ahead of the 2019 Netball World Cup in Liverpool, England.

Now, that is history as from Africa it is only hosts South Africa’s Spar Proteas and Uganda’s She Cranes  that have the privilege for being ranked fifth and sixth, respectively.

They can choose not to take part in the qualifying event while the Queens have to fight for the two remaining slots against e-Swatini, Zambia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Namibia and Botswana.

Meanwhile, the She Cranes have chosen to pull out from the qualifying games and focus on their imminent Test Series against England’s Roses this October whereas the Spar Proteas will take part.

The Queens’ final squad was expected to be announced yesterday but both the technical panel and NAM had not yet made it available by press time.