Malawi Under-21 National Netball Team returned to winning ways with a 54-35 beating of Zambia in a heavily contested match at the University of Pretoria in Pretoria, South Africa, Thursday.
The results means the Junior Queens have kept their 2025 Netball World Youth Cup final qualification dreams alive.
Promising shooter Stella Matelezi was, once again, in fine form, inspiring Malawi to recover from their 44- 19 defeat to leaders South Africa on Wednesday.
The Blue Eagles Sisters shooter was deservedly named player of the match, repeating her exploits against Namibia in the opening game.
However, Malawi did not get Thursday’s win on a silver platter as Zambia pushed them to the limit, threatening to cause an upset.
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But the junior Queens held their nerves and led 14-8 at the end of the first quarter.
They continued fighting and extended the lead to 28-16 at half time.
The junior Queens upped their game in the third quarter, tightening the defence and sharpening the attack to comfortably lead 43-23.
The last quarter saw both sizes working hard to score more baskets but it was Malawi who had the last laugh.
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Junior Queens assistant coach Cecilia Mtukule- Bondowe hailed the players for their performance.
“When you win, you get motivated to work extra hard. Friday, we used attacking and defending strategies. The Zambians are short and faster but we used the defence to attack their spaces. The V-strategy allowed us to be faster while using long passes,” Mtukule-Bondowe said.
She said they will change their strategy against Zimbabwe Friday
