* They next face England tomorrow from 18:00hrs and Barbados on Thursday, August 3 from 11:00hrs
* They played two friendly games in which they beat Fiji 60-49 and lost 54-60 against world number 1, New Zealand
By Duncan Mlanjira
Malawian national netball team, the Queens open their 2023 Netball World Cup in South Africa against Scotland tonight from 20:00hrs and coach Sam Kanyenda says from the preparations and enthusiasm in his experienced squad, it is very possible for them to make history at the tournament.
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Thus he says he is eyeing for top 4 finish and that the players are geared for it ahead of the three group matches in which they next face England tomorrow, July 29 from 18:00hrs and Barbados on Thursday, August 3 from 11:00hrs.
Kanyenda’s squad comprise Joyce Mvula, Jane Chimaliro, Thandie Galleta, Takondwa Lwazi, Martha Dambo, Towera Vinkhumbo, Loreen Ngwira, Sindi Simtowe, Mwai Kumwenda, Grace Mwafulirwa, Shabel Bengo and Madalitso Mkandawire.
They played two friendly games in which they beat Fiji 60-49 (21-9 1st quarter; 36-25 in the 2nd and 50-36 in 3rd) and lost 54-60 against world number 1, New Zealand (12-16 in 1st; 27-29 in 2nd and 41-45 in 3rd).
The friendly against New Zealand
Meanwhile, SuperSport will beam live all matches back-to-back action live from the Cape Town International Convention Centre in South Africa when the 2023 Netball World Cup kicks off with eight exciting fixtures on SuperSport Variety 1 & 3 and SuperSport Select 1 & 2 on the Here-For-Her channel on DStv (from Family) and GOtv (from Max) from tonight till August 6. The opening ceremony this evening starts at 16:00hrs.
This is the first-ever Netball World Cup to be hosted by Africa and among the 16 participating teams in Cape Town will be hosts South Africa, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Malawi — ensuring a powerful African presence.
A statement from MultiChoice says this is a not to be missed sporting event and sporting fans can look forward to African teams making the continent proud, as the 2023 Netball World Cup brings all the live action and the adrenaline of the game to their homes.
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It quotes SuperSport CEO-designate, Rendani Ramovha saying: “This World Cup is not just another sports event — it’s a nod to our commitment to promoting women in sports and a celebration of female athletes who, through their remarkable feats, inspire and empower others.
“With an all-women SuperSport production crew – a world first – we will bring you every twist, every turn, every shot, of all 64 matches, including simultaneous games.”
Malawi’s celebrated netball legend, Mary Waya will be joined by former veteran African players from Uganda and Zimbabwe as among top analysts for the tournament.
She is recognised for the important and glamorous role for having played more than 200 matches for Malawi and is joined by Ruth Meeme, who represented Uganda at the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, and Perpetua Siyachitema, who captained Zimbabwe at the 2019 Netball World Cup.
The format is that group preliminaries will be followed by stage two preliminaries (from July 31) before the playoffs (August 4 and 5) and the placement matches, culminating in the August 6 final.
The first preliminaries will be played by four groups of four teams with the top three from each progress to the second preliminaries stage, which will have top three teams from groups A and B forming group F; top three from groups C and D forming group G.
The bottom four finishers from groups A-D will compete against one another in group E and if teams in groups F and G have already played each other in the preliminaries stage one, these results will carry through to preliminary stage two.
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Playoffs
The teams finishing 3rd and 4th in groups F and G compete for final positions 5th to 8th; 3rd in one group plays 4th in the other and the winners play off for 5th place and the losers for 7th.
The teams that finish 5th in groups F and G play off for 9th and 10th places while those that finish 1st and 2nd in group E play off for 13th and 14th place with teams that finish 3rd and fourth in group E play off for the 15th and 16th places.
The teams finishing 1st and 2nd in groups F and G go through to the semi-finals and the top placed team in each group faces the second-placed team in the other group.
The teams finishing 1st and 2nd in groups F and G go through to the semi-finals with the top placed team in each group faces the 2nd placed team in the other group while the winners of each semi-final compete for gold in the final with the losers playing for bronze.
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