New Malawi National Netball Team Coach Joanna Kachilika and her bosses, Netball Association of Malawi (Nam), have called on for more competitive games to enable the side regain its ranking in the world.
The Queens have fallen to position seven from seven in the latest rankings released by World Netball on Friday.
Currently, the Queens have been displaced by Uganda on sixth whereas South Africa are the highest ranking team from Africa, having maintained position five ranking.
Meanwhile, Kachilika said the Queens’ failure to take part in the African Championship and Test Series has cost the team sixth ranking place.
“We have been idle since the World Cup. We have not played any games but if we had gone to play the African Championship Games in Botswana in November last year, we could have gained points and maintained the sixth position despite playing with the bottom teams,” she said.
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The Imosys Netball Club coach said the Queens need to play more friendlies with the top teams.
“A win will be a bonus for a team to gain more points, with a loss a team will also gain some points depending on the results by reducing the gap. We need to play more test series,” Kachilika said.
Nam General Secretary Isaac Chimwala echoed similar statements.
“The Queens have been dormant since the team came back from World Cup games in July 2023. Our competitors have been very active playing over four games with high ranked teams gaining massive points over our dormancy. This has hit us real bad,” Chimwala said.
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Chimwala said for the side to reclaim its position, there is a need to get the basics back in place.
“In short term, we need to play more ranking games with teams ranked above Malawi and at the same time introduce youthful players to complement the current crop of players,” he said.
On the world ladder, Australia remain at the top with New Zealand second whereas England and Jamaica are on third and fourth respectively.
