Trouble in Queens camp

Australia-based Malawi Queens shooter Mwawi Kumwenda’s decision to refuse to be thrown in as a substitute in the Netball World Cup match against England in Cape Town yesterday sparked a row in the team’s camp.

The gangly shooter was not in the starting line-up in the match which Malawi lost 62-39.

When coach Samuel Kanyenda wanted to introduce her as a second-half substitute, she refused.

It had to take the intervention of Netball Association of Malawi (NAM) president Abigail Shariff for the player to come in in the last quarter.

In an interview, Mwawi confirmed refusing to be thrown in late in the quarter.

“It is true I refused to get in because there were only two minutes left and I felt they [coaches] needed to give other players a chance,” she said.

Her move led to the New Zealand-based shooter Joyce Mvula, who limped off injured earlier on, to be reintroduced.

Mwawi brushed off suggestions that she was frustrated for being put on the bench.

Mwawi was later on introduced in the fourth quarter, a move that reportedly did not please some players.

Queens coach Sam Kanyenda confirmed that there were some misunderstanding, but refused to give more details.

“We first have to discuss the issue internally before going public,” he said.

Reacting to the wide margin loss, the coach said: “There were a number of factors. One of which was that we didn’t defend well. The other thing was that we had a game plan, which, however, was affected by some internal issues.”

After a bright start in the first quarter in which they trailed 12-10, the Queens lost their rhythm in subsequent quarters and at half time they were 29-20 down.

In the third quarter, it was 48-29 in favour of England

Today, the Queens face Barbados  in their last group match.