Malawi Under-21 National Netball Team has qualified for the 2025 Netball World Youth Cup finals in Gibraltar after narrowly edging out Zimbabwe 42-41 in a qualifier at the University of Pretoria’s Rembrandt Hall in Pretoria, South Africa Friday.
Following the win, Junior Queens have joined the hosts South Africa on their way to the world finals after finishing the round robin stage among the t op two sides.
Ironically, both teams will meet in the final today to determine continental champions.
South Africa finished the group stage with a perfect record having won all six matches to collect 12 points, two ahead of Malawi who lost once.
Zimbabwe and Zambia will battle in a third-place match after each side collected six points.
Meanwhile, Malawi Under-21 Coach Christina Mkwanda hailed her charges for putting up a spirited performance to win the match.
“The girls were determined to win because they knew that a win would give us a slot in the final,” she said.
Commenting ahead of today’s decider, Mkwanda said the Junior Queens have rectified their mistakes after they lost to the hosts and group leaders South Africa.
However, Junior Queens were made to sweat as Zimbabwe proved to be a hard nut to crack after beating Malawi in two previous encounters including winning during the 2022 Region 5 Youth Games match in Lilongwe.
It was a balanced affair as a lot was at stake. The Junior Queens held their nerves to lead narrowly 12-8 at the end of the first quarter and 23-20 at half time.
In the third quarter, Malawi nearly gave away the match as they played for two minutes without a player who had been penalised for foul play.
Nevertheless, the junior Queens held their nerves to lead 33-32 and maintained the basket difference at the end of the match.
Meanwhile, Netball Association of Malawi General Secretary Isaac Chimwala was overwhelmed with the qualification.
“The game against Zimbabwe has ended in our favour. This means that Malawi has qualified for NWYC 2025. We have a game tomorrow [today] just for placing. We are playing South Africa. Should we win that game with a huge margin, then we become number one otherwise SA already enjoys a good goal difference,” Chimwala said.
The tournament will end today.
