Tabitha leads scorers chart
Malawi women’s football star Tabitha Chawinga is joint leading scorer in the Italian Women’s Serie A with seven goals after stepping off the bench to score a late equaliser for Inter Milan against Parma on Monday.
It is the first time the Scorchers captain is topping the scorers chart since joining Inter on loan from Chinse Superleague champions Wuhan Jiangda in August this year.
The 26-year-old, who has played seven games, is tied with team-mate Elisa Polli and Juventus forward Cristiana Girelli.
Tabitha also jointly leads on assists alongside Ariana Caruso of Juventus and Inter’s Ghoutia Karchouni after she helped her team-mates score four goals.
She netted the priceless goal four minutes after being introduced as a second-half substitute in the 76th minute.
Inter were two goals behind until the 70th minute when Stefanie van der Gragt pulled one back.
In an interview yesterday, Tabitha said it was a pleasant surprise to note that she is now the league’s joint leading scorer despite missing a number of games due to a hamstring injury.
“I thank God for giving me the strength and skill to score upon my return to action,”she said.
“It was painful to see my team trailing on Monday and I was relieved when I scored the equaliser.”
Following the draw, Inter are third on the 10-team log-table with 19 points from 10 matches. They are eight and two points adrift of leaders Roma and Juventus, respectively.
Tabitha’s performance augurs well for her as in September, ESPN sports channel named her Serie A Women’s Player of the Month and Best Africa Woman Footballer in Europe.
The striker, who has twice been nominated for the Africa Woman Footballer of the Year Award, started her career at Lilongwe-based DD Sunshine, which she now co-sponsors.
She clinched a deal at Swedish side Krokom IF in 2014 before moving to Kvarnsvedens IK in 2015.
In 2018, Chawinga secured a deal with Chinese Superleague side Jiangsu Suning where she spent two seasons before joining her younger sister Temwa at Wuhan.
While at Jiangsu, she was twice named Chinese Women’s football Player of the Year after guiding the club to back-to-back league honours. She also won the league’s golden boot twice.
President Lazarus Chakwera will launch the 2022 Africa Union Sports Council (Ausc) Region 5 Youth Games on Friday at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.
Minister of Youth and Sports Richard Chimwendo Banda yesterday said the development underlines government’s commitment towards the Games which runs up to December 11.
He said: “This is a historic moment because Malawi will be hosting the Games for the first time. This is an opportunity for us as a host country to promote the image of Malawi on the world stage.”
