Malawi Queens arrive in England for Netball World Cup
Malawi Queens have jetted into England for their participation at the Netball World Cup in Liverpool, England to be held over 10 days from 12 July
The Queens were in Manchester on Tuesday where they have been joined by star shooter Joyce Mvula but will leave Wednesday for Wales to play three test matches before proceeding to Liverpool for the Netball World Cup where they will throw off their campaign on July 12.
While in Wales, Malawi will face Trinidad & Tobago, the hosts and Grenada in an International Test Series slated for 4 to 10 July in Cardiff.
Coach Griffin Saenda said they use the test matches in Wales to prepare for the World Netball.
“It is good we have a Test Series to sharpen our minds. We will adopt a fighting mentality,” said Saenda.
During the last Netball World Cup, Malawi finished on position five and Saenda hopes the Queens will live on their nerves again to improve on their previous achievements.
With star player Mwawi Kumwenda ruled out due to injury, Saenda’s hopes are on UK-based duo of Joyce Mvula and Laureen Ngwira.
The coach said two UK-based stars Mvula and Ngwira will add depth to the squad.
The Queens full squad is as follows:
Shooters: Joyce Mvula, Sindi Simtowe, Alinafe Kamwala and Jane Chimaliro
Attackers: Takondwa Lwazi, Brigdet Kumwenda and Thandie Galeta
Defenders: Loreen Ngwira, Towera Vinkhumbo, Carol Mtukule, Joana Kachilika and Grace Mwafulirwa.
Malawi have been paired in group B alongside indomitable New Zealand, Barbados and Singapore.
A total of 16 countries have qualified for the World Cup, with defending champions Australia seeking a record 12th world championship.
Australia and Northern Ireland are in Group A which also has Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.
Top seeds Jamaica and South Africa are in Group C alongside Trinidad and Tobago and Fiji. England, Uganda, Scotland and Samoa are in Group D.
The preliminaries stage one will be played from July 12 to14 while the preliminaries stage two from July 15 to18.This is in contrast with the 2015 tournament format which although it had three stages, the preliminary stage was not subdivided into further two stages.
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All the best ma queens, you always put us on the map.
“During the last Netball World Cup, Malawi finished on position five … ” Oh dear! Now, in terms of World rankings, Malawi has dropped to position 9 from 6. From the website supersport: “With less than two weeks to go before the start of the Netball World Cup (NWC) in Liverpool, there have been some dramatic changes to international rankings. “While South Africa has retained its fifth place ranking, long-time nemesis Malawi has dropped from sixth place to ninth. Uganda has moved up one ranking to sixth place, one behind South Africa, while the other leading African country, Zimbabwe, has… Read more »