{"id":81230,"date":"2019-07-31T03:12:20","date_gmt":"2019-07-31T01:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.times.mw\/?p=81230"},"modified":"2019-07-31T03:12:20","modified_gmt":"2019-07-31T01:12:20","slug":"she-flames-aim-for-madagascar-scalp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/2019\/07\/31\/she-flames-aim-for-madagascar-scalp\/","title":{"rendered":"She-Flames aim for Madagascar scalp"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Mabvuto Kambuwe, <\/em><\/strong>In Port Elizabeth, Rsa:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
MKANDAWIRE\u2014 I will do my best<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An early bird catches the worm\u2014this is the message the She-Flames players have been told as they open their 2019 Cosafa Women\u2019s Championship against Madagascar\u2019s Barea at Wolfson Stadium in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa.<\/p>\n

The She-Flames hope for a better start this year after a poor opening in a previous outing.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s match would be a repeat of last year\u2019s fixture which ended 2-0 in favour of the She- Flames.<\/p>\n

However, the She-Flames should exercise caution against Madagascar, who have improved a lot since 2017.<\/p>\n

From last year\u2019s She-Flames squad, only Fanny Mwale and Vice-Captain Madina Ngulube are absent this year due to injuries.<\/p>\n

Coach Abel Mkandawire, in charge for the She-Flames for the first time at this regional showpiece, Tuesday said today\u2019s game is a must-win to boost the players\u2019 confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no doubt that we will achieve a top-four finish this year. Our training from first day camp has been good and the players are fit for the tournament,\u201d<\/em> said Mkandawire, whose side will also be without Captain Tabitha Chawinga and her sister Temwa due to club commitments.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But experienced Sabina Thom, who returned from Sweden, is back in the fold after missing last year\u2019s tournament due to club commitments. She could provide the much-needed balance.<\/p>\n

Multi-talented Towera Vinkhumbo, just a week after taking part in the Netball World Cup in Liverpool, England will feature in the She-Flames\u2019 defence and she is the Vice- Captain.<\/p>\n

Mkandawire is not panicking with the absence of the Chawinga sisters whose deadly combination routed Mozambique 14-1 in the 2020 Olympic Games qualifiers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the time for the players to show us that they deserve to wear the She-Flames jersey. It is an opportunity for them to make a name and be counted,\u201d<\/em> Mkandawire said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After arrival on Monday night, Vinkhumbo promised to bring medals.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur aim is to try to win medals here and we are confident that we will do it,\u201d<\/em> she said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the absence of Madina, Mkandawire has midfield options such as Bridget Nkuzilire, Salome Vinkhumbo and Shilla Dimba.<\/p>\n

Towera will likely lead the defence alongside Fatsireni Mazembe, Ruth Nyirongo and Emily Jossam.<\/p>\n

Mercy Sikelo and Samir Amidu would compete for a starting role between the two sticks.<\/p>\n

Last year, Malawi started the competition with a 2-0 loss to Botswana before beating Madagascar then losing 0-6 to South Africa to exit the tournament at the group stages.<\/p>\n

Malawi last reached the semi-finals of the competition in 2011, when the tournament took place in Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Mabvuto Kambuwe, In Port Elizabeth, Rsa: An early bird catches the worm\u2014this is the message the She-Flames players have been told as they open their 2019 Cosafa Women\u2019s Championship against Madagascar\u2019s Barea at Wolfson Stadium in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa. The She-Flames hope for a better start this year after a poor opening […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":76429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81230"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81233,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81230\/revisions\/81233"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}