Queens thump hosts Scotland
Goal attacker Sindi Simtowe last night turned on a vintage show that inspired the Malawi Queens to a 62-35 victory over hosts Scotland’s Thistles at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
Simtowe left the turnout at Scottish Exhibition Centre saluting her sublime skills as she converted most of the baskets for the fith-ranked Queens.
The match was monitored on SuperSport 7 channel on digital satellite television (DStv).
Simtowe, who celebrated her birthday three days ago, stood out to be counted after the Queens’ poster girl Mwawi Kumwenda was tightly marked by the Thistles goalkeeper Claire Brown who had a grand game.
The Scottish Netball Association’s website has the catchline ‘Beware the Thirstles sting’, but they were ruthlessly executed right in their backyard by the merciless Queens, who found solace in the win after suffering an 81-50 comprehensive demolition at the hands of Jamaica the previous night.
The Queens’ loss on Monday night ended their juicy dream to break into the top four.
In the first quarter last night, the Queens led 12-9 and at half-time, they were 28-19 up.
The Scots, who are ranked 11th— six places behind the Queens—tried to reorganise themselves in the last two quarters, but the gap in class was a bit too much and they could not just stand the heat.
The Queens’ average shooting accuracy was 86 percent against their opponents’ 73 percent.
The Malawi Queens led 46-27 in the third quarter and then finished the job in the last quarter to secure Pool A third place.
This means that the Queens are likely to fight for the tournament’s fifth position with their continental rivals South Africa’s Proteas who are also tipped to finish third in Pool B behind Australia and England.
Defending champions New Zealand and Jamaica, who meet in their last game, will share the top two positions of Pool A regardless of the result.
