The Malawi netball team is currently taking part in this sport’s World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa. As one of the leading netball teams in the world, the Malawi Queens have helped to raise the profile of this sport but what are the factors that will determine how popular it becomes?
The Success of the Malawi Queens
As the second-highest-ranked African team and sixth in the world, the Queens are one of the teams tipped to perform well at the netball tournament in South Africa. They are one of four African teams to make it to the last 16 stage of the World Cup, with the others being Uganda, Zimbabwe, and the host nation.
The tournament is still ongoing at the time of writing, with Malawi sitting in second place in Group B following two wins and a loss. While it’s going to be extremely difficult for Malawi to progress to the final of a tournament traditionally dominated by Australia and New Zealand, according to the BBC the Queens were the first team to win a quarter against Australia before eventually losing 70-46 to the world number in their group match.
Reports of the game pointed out that Malawi appeared to take control for a spell, with the Australian players rocked and unsure what to do as the first half ended at 28-all following a spell of fierce pressure by the Queens. While they eventually lost as Steph Wood took control of the match, it was a performance to make everyone sit up and take notice.
The surge of interest in the competition means that fans have been looking for ways of watching it live or betting on the outcome. The Sportingtech website shows how the latest data is used to provide odds on a 24/7 basis on more than a hundred sports including netball. This means that the latest data is utilised immediately to provide updated figures that give bettors accurate odds on Malawi winning and other sporting events.
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How Netball Has Grown
One of the reasons that this World Cup is being held in South Africa is that it’s become the most popular women’s sport in the country. With two million active players across South Africa according to this report by The Conversation, it’s quickly become a major sport that has captured the imagination of many people.
The fact that such as major netball event is being played in Africa could help to inspire more players in Malawi and other countries to take up the sport. If one of the African teams wins the trophy, then this could have an even more positive effect on the popularity of netball across the continent.
Some of the top stars in the Malawi team play abroad, such as Mwai Kumwenda of the Melbourne Vixens and Joyce Mvula of Central Pulse, meaning that emerging players may see this sport as the route to a rewarding career as well as the chance to represent their country at the highest level.
No matter how the World Cup ends, the Malawi team has made a big impression in Cape Town and that should help the sport to grow here. With a league infrastructure already in place. These could be an interesting few years for netball in Malawi.
