Griffin Saenda begins Queens’ revival
Malawi national netball team Coach, Griffin Saenda Senior, has admitted that he faces a tall order in his quest to rebuild the Queens after a disastrous year.
The Queens started training at Blantyre Youth Centre Tuesday in readiness for Commonwealth Games set for April 5 to 16 in Australia.
Before the Games, the Queens will feature in a Quad Series, dubbed Taini Jamison, in Auckland, New Zealand, at the end of this month.
Saenda said it was not easy for the Queens to return to winning ways, following their dismal performance in 2017 at Fast5 Netball World Series in Australia and three test matches against England.
During that spell, the Queens suffered 10 consecutive defeats, including nine in competitive matches.
“The task is huge but we can revive our fortunes if we are united and determined. On my own, I am nothing but the support of everyone, including players, members of the technical panel, the association, supporters and entire nation will inspire us to reclaim our status,” he said.
Saenda said they would concentrate on endurance in the opening week before working on tactics and game-plans.
Saenda missed last year’s events on health grounds but Netball Association of Malawi recalled him following his recovery.
The Queens are ranked number six in the world and second in Africa. Until a few years ago, the Queens were ranked fifth in the world and number one in Africa, but lack of investment in the sport has seen Malawi being overtaken in netball development by teams such as South Africa.
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