Queens see off e-swatini
Malawi Queens yesterday got their Netball World Cup qualifying campaign off to a perfect start with a 69-50 win over e-Swatini, formerly Swaziland, in Pretoria, South Africa.
New Zealand-bound shooter Joyce Mvula was the architect of the Queens’ positive result as she contributed 43 baskets from 44 attempts and it was no surprise when she was awarded the Player of the Match accolade.
Queens coach Peace Chawinga-Kaluwa said after the game monitored on SuperSport television channel: “We are happy for the good start. Our target is to be consistent and win all our remaining games.
“We played around with our line-up to see different combinations ahead of our next crucial matches. In the first segments, our opponents seemed to cope with our play until we increased the heat as regards to style and speed. Our girls ably adapted to the system.”
The world netball’s seventh-ranked Queens could have done much better as the 19-basket margin win hardly reflects their status, considering that they were playing against a side that has returned to the big stage after being inactive for at least five years.
The win was important for the Queens as it has made them to top the four-team Pool B on better basket aggregate, following a tie on two points with second-placed Zambia, who beat Kenya 46-30 in their opener.
Malawi will face Kenya this afternoon in their second fixture.
According to the competition’s format, the qualifiers are being played in a round-robin format with nine teams split into two pools based on the most recent results from the 2021 Africa Netball Championships’ final placings.
Top two teams from each pool will progress to the semi-finals where the winners will take two of the four Netball World Cup slots for African teams. On the other hand, the rest will play cross-pool classification matches for positions five to nine.
South Africa and Uganda already earned automatic qualification to the World Cup for being ranked fifth and sixth, respectively, on world rankings. This means if South Africa finish in the top at the qualifiers, second and third-positioned teams will make the grade.
Queens are fighting for a slot at the global event for the first time after losing automatic qualification privilege due to their recent drop on world rankings from sixth to seventh.
Yesterday, the Queens started the game with all guns blazing to lead 19-11 in the first quarter before extending the lead to 35-24 and 54-37 in the subsequent segments.
With Mvula shooting at an incredible 98 percent accuracy, centre Takondwa Lwazi dictating ball distribution and Towera Vinkhumbo-Nyirenda cleaning the mess on the defensive end with some wonderful intercepts, it was clear the Queens were on their way to victory.
Up-and-coming shooter Tendai Masamba was also featured in some of the quarters and she did not disappoint.
Nevertheless, as Chawinga-Kaluwa made a number of changes to try different combinations, some lapses emerged, especially the frequent misplacement of passes in the second quarter.
Mvula, who was praised by e-Swatini coach Nhlanhla Mayisela for being strong, athletic and clinical under the loop, attributed the victory to good coordination and teamwork.
In the five-team Pool A, South Africa beat Botswana 60-37 in their opening match on Sunday while Namibia, which has Queens’ legend Mary Waya as head coach, triumphed 54-40 over Tanzania. Yesterday, Zimbabwe beat Botswana 49-41.
