Malawi National Netball Team Coach Joanna Kachilika has acknowledged that the Queens fell wanting expectations within the Spar Challenge International Test Series at Ellis Park Arena in Johannesburg, South Africa.

She was, nonetheless, fast to say there was a necessity for extra tenting time to show the tide earlier than the Africa Netball Championship slated for Swakopmund, Namibia, from December 9 to 10.

Kachilika made the decision after the Queens suffered complete defeats within the Rainbow Nation.

They misplaced 68-31 on Thursday, 69-38 on Saturday and 69-24 on Sunday to mark a foul begin for Kachilika’s reign as coach for the facet.

She signed a three-year-deal in January.

The final time the crew suffered heavy defeats was in 2020 in Sun City, South Africa, after they misplaced 69- 28.

Kachilika mentioned the take a look at sequence have been an eye-opener as they gave her an opportunity to evaluate the squad.

“We have seen our strengths and weaknesses and I believe that, with more time, we can rectify what went wrong during the series. If we can be given time, we can fix the problems. We now know which players can play in certain positions, having tried different combinations,” Kachilika mentioned.

On her half, Netball Association of Malawi (Nam) President Vitumbiko Mwandemange-Gubuduza dubbed the defeats as unlucky, arguing that the affiliation had been given a possibility to overview the crew’s efficiency for functions of enchancment.

“That is, in essence, what Test Series are for. We need to interrogate the root cause of such performances and see what we need to do before the Africa Netball Cup.

“We will get reports from the technical team and see what we can work on going forward,” Mwandemange-Gubuduza mentioned.

Meanwhile, Nam has been caught off guard after Africa Netball, the physique that governs the game on the continent, invited males’s groups to be a part of the continental showpiece.

The championship will function each ladies’s and males’s netball groups from throughout Africa.

So far, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, eSwatini, Namibia, Lesotho, Kenya and Tanzania have confirmed participation.

Nam has confirmed Malawi Queens’ participation however has doubted the opportunity of together with the boys’s crew because of funding woes.

“Following an invitation from Africa Netball, Nam will send the Malawi Queens, our national women’s netball team, to compete in the prestigious tournament.

“Due to limited resources, Nam has committed to sending the women’s team. Efforts are underway to secure additional funding to support the participation of our men’s netball team. Nam is supportive of the World Netball strategy to incorporate men in the netball sport, something most countries have, so far, implemented,” a press release reads.

One of the gamers for Akabawi, the boys’s netball facet, Noel Mussa mentioned they have been keenly following the event.

“We are keeping our fingers crossed. We just hope that Nam will secure additional support so that we travel to the tournament,” Mussa mentioned.