Queens open for all
Malawi national netball team Coach, Peace Chawinga-Kaluwa, says she will maintain majority of the players in the team if they continue performing well at the top level.
The Queens arrived in the country through Kamuzu International Airport (Kia) Thursday after a second-place finish at the just ended Africa Netball Championship in Cape Town, South Africa.
Upon arrival in Lilongwe, Chawinga- Kaluwa, said she would be selecting players on merit regardless of their age, while saying the door was still open for new additions.
“We have assembled a very good squad comprising experienced and upcoming players and we performed well during the tournament. Going ahead, we will be selecting players based on their performance,” she said.
Before the tournament, Chawinga- Kaluwa dropped former Queens Captain, Joana Kachilika, Kukoma Diamonds’ shooter Alinafe Kamwala and Thandie Galeta of Tropical Queens. The trio was an integral part of the Queens in the last two years.
But the coach recalled Beatrice Mpinganjira and renamed Caroline Mtukule-Ngwira as the Queens’ skipper.
However, the Queens received a lukewarm reception at Kia as few people welcomed them.
On her part, Netball Association of Malawi (Nam) President Khungekile Matiya said resources permitting they would opt for more international friendly games.
“We appeal to the corporate world to support the team so that we continue doing well. We need more friendly matches before we participate in future competitions,” she said.
One of the netball fans, Charles Mwenda, said it was worrisome development that the Queens were struggling to beat South Africa.
“We need to do our homework properly when facing teams like South Africa. It will be difficult for us to beat them if we do not invest more resources in netball. South Africa players are well motivated than our players,” he said.
During the competition, the Queens lost to South Africa’s Spar Protea 56- 51 in the opening match but recovered to win five games against Uganda, 49-45, Zimbabwe 71-46, Kenya 72-34, Zambia 70- 42 and Lesotho 89-32.
