Malawi Under-21 National Netball Team Wednesday suffered a humiliating 44- 19 defeat to hosts South Africa in the on-going Netball World Youth Cup 2025 Qualifiers Africa at the University of Pretoria.
The only solace was that the junior Queens limited the hosts from scoring over 50 baskets.
South Africa have been ruthless and merciless, hammering every team standing in their way to maintain their perfect record.
They thrashed Kenya 70-16, Zambia 72- 10, Zambia 75-7 and Zimbabwe 62-29 but found Malawi’s defence difficult to beat.
However, all is not lost for the young Queens as they just need to finish in the top three to book a ticket to Gibraltar for the global showpiece.
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They certainly have little time to lick their wounds as they take on Zambia Thursday before facing Zimbabwe Friday.
South Africa top the round robin tournament after winning five games convincingly, amassing 10 points whereas Malawi and Zimbabwe have collected six points each.
During the match, South Africa shooter Giada Prinsloo and goal-attacker Lisa Ingwersen were unplayable as Malawi defenders Shabelo Bengo and Chimwemwe Dzanja failed to contain them.
In defence, the hosts were difficult to beat as Malawi attackers Stella Matelezi and Relie Banda failed to outdo defenders Sanmarie Visser and Syntiche Kabuya who limited them to shooting from long distances.
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The first quarter ended 14-4 in favour of the hosts. The Baby Proteas went on to lead 23-8 at half time.
Despite some changes, the young Queens still failed to find their rhythm and allowed the runaway leaders to maintain their 33-12 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Both teams upped their tempo in the last quarter but the hosts maintained their superiority.
Malawi assistant Coach Cecilia Bondwe attributed the loss to biased officiation.
“This was our toughest game. We saw bad officiation in today’s match. The umpires were favouring South Africa. Of course we had our own problems but the umpires were favouring South Africa. It was bad. But we just encouraged our girls to continue fighting because we know we can prove ourselves to be the best in the world.
“We still have Zambia and Zimbabwe to play against and we will encourage our players to bring out their best so that we meet South Africa in the final. We will let bygones be bygones. Our major task is to motivate the girls to come out strongly against Zambia and Zimbabwe so that we go through to the final,” Bondwe said.
