Malawi Queens jet out for Commonwealth Games mission

The Malawi National Netball Team, the Queens, on Tuesday left the country for Manchester, England, en route to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, departing through Bakili Muluzi International Airport in Blantyre.

While in Manchester, the Queens will play a series of friendly matches against New Zealand, England, Northern Ireland and Wales before proceeding to Scotland for the main event.

Head Coach Deborah Fuller said she was thrilled at the opportunity to fly the Malawi flag on the international stage.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to test ourselves against the best netball teams in the world. We need to win matches at the Commonwealth Games as we also prepare for African Cup in September which is a platform for qualifying for the Netball World Cup.

“We are going there to try and make Malawi proud. I think we have so far prepared enough,” she said.

Netball Association of Malawi (NAM) President Vitumbiko Gubuduza described the Commonwealth Games campaign as part of the team’s broader rebuilding plan.

“We will get an opportunity to see how the young players are going to adjust to the pressure of an international competition.

“We have been planning and planning and this will be time to see what all the planning will amount to. We have youngsters that we think are finding their place in the team already,” said Gubuduza.

Goal Shooter Stella Matelezi told journalists that morale within the camp was high, with the players expecting a good showing at the tournament.

Wing Attacker Mphatso Banda, set to feature at her first Commonwealth Games, said she was looking forward to a promising outing despite the learning curve ahead.

“For us the newcomers in the team, we will have a lot to learn but we are very prepared to fight and win,” she said.

The 2026 Commonwealth Games run from July 23 to August 2, and Coach Fuller says she will be pleased if the team can climb from its current position of number nine in the world rankings.