Heroic welcome for the Queens

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Malawi Queens Fast5 Netball England

They produced a stunning performance at the just ended Fast5 netball series in Australia where they won a bronze medal.

And thousands of Malawians showed them love as they lined up the street on Tuesday afternoon to welcome back the Malawi National Netball Team (the Queens) from Australia where they finished third behind New Zealand and the hosts Australia to end their seven-year wait for their first Fats5 bronze medal.

The tournament, which is participated by the world’s top-six ranked netball teams, saw the Queens recording three victories before losing to Australia, New Zealand and England.

The Queens bounced back from 23-24 and 43-22 losses to Australia and England respectively, to upset Jamaica 46-12 then South Africa 36-21 on Sunday to book a third-place play-off with England which ended 35-32 in favour of the Queens. With that win the Queens claimed the Bronze medal.

As if that was not enough, star shooter Mwawi Kumwenda finished the tournament as the top goal scorer.

And on Tuesday, the nation’s pride arrived back into the country via Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe where they were welcomed by government officials, Netball Association of Malawi (NAM) officials and Airtel Malawi officials plus thousands of fans who invaded the airport.

Upon arrival, Airtel Malawi gave the team K6 million with each player and members of the technical panel receiving K500,000 each for the job well done.