Malawi Queens coach Peace Chawinga-Kaluwa on November 12 lost her cool during their match against South Africa at the Africa Netball Championship.
The coach blamed referees for their 56-39 defeat to defending champions South Africa’s Spar Proteas at the Championship.
The defeat at Wanderers Sports Club in Windhoek, Namibia, dealt the Queens a setback in their chase for the continental title which they last won in 2012.
The loss means that the Malawi Queens need to win all their remaining matches with wide margins in the round-robin formatted contest and hope that the other hot contenders falter along the way.
The Queens coach had no kind words for the officials while addressing the press after the match.
“You were there, and you saw it yourself. Did South Africa intercept?. No! Anyway, I am happy with the way the players performed.”
“We need clarification on other things that didn’t work well. We are saying if they are able to blow against one side, why not on the other side?” she questioned.
“I am a happy coach because my girls really played well and were able to handle the pressure.”
“They played according to instructions. I have seen some turnovers which when we went to the UIP for clarification they were unable to explain.”
“South Africa were given balls either from off-side or delaying of which we do not know. So, such kind of free balls being given on a silver platter is something else.”
“Giving three, four balls to one team in such a situation is dangerous to the other team,” she added.
She also attributed the defeat to the situation as it affected her charges mentally.
During the game when tempers rose at both ends, the Queens defence seemed a little too rough, attracting avoidable fouls that proved costly to the tie.
This result was better as compared to the other encounters as previously the Queens have been losing to South Africa in the past three games with scores such as 69-28, 62-29 and 65-25.
In the current championship the Queens have won three matches and lost once, having beaten Zambia 70-36, Botswana 67-23 and Zimbabwe 56-42.
They are third on the log-table with six points from four games while South Africa lead the pack on eight points, having won all their four matches so far.
Malawi face Kenya on Saturday, November 13 this afternoon before entertaining hosts Namibia the following day.