The opening centre pass of the 14th Netball World Cup is just a week from tomorrow. Netball writer Robert van Royen has so far previewed South Africa and Jamaica as two potentially tough opponents the Silver Ferns might face in Sydney. In part three of our five-part series, it is time to look at Malawi - a team that almost beat the Ferns in their last meeting.
Cup record
Best finish: Fifth (2007).
Played: 31
Won: 13
Lost: 18
HISTORY
Malawi - nicknamed the Queens - has competed in only four previous World Cups.
The southeast Africans made their debut in the 1995 tournament in England, where they finished eighth.
Malawi dropped to 11th in the 1999 World Cup in New Zealand before missing out on the 2003 championships in Jamaica.
Since then, Malawi has been a more consistent team. It recorded its best finish (fifth) at the World Cup in New Zealand in 2007 and was sixth in Singapore four years ago.
Malawi automatically qualified for this year's World Cup in Sydney as the fifth-ranked team in the world.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Mainland Tactix goal shoot Mwai Kumwenda is the only professional player in Malawi's squad.
The 1.83m shooter completed her second season in the ANZ Championship in May, finishing the season with an impressive 91.6% success rate on 371 from 405 attempts.
Kumwenda won the best new talent award in her debut season last year, and gives Malawi a dangerous weapon inside the circle.
For a team that did not have enough money to compete in the African championships in Botswana last month, and does not have access to gyms or indoor training facilities, the presence of Kumwenda is a huge boost.
WORLD CUP PROSPECTS
Malawi, the top-seeded team in pool C, will open its campaign against South Africa on day one.
With Singapore and Sri Lanka unlikely to pose a threat, the all-African clash will surely decide who wins the pool.
However, finishing second in the pool is not necessarily a bad thing because it would probably mean avoiding Australia in the next round, which features the top eight teams splitting into two pools of four.
The Silver Ferns and Malawi will meet in the next round if both win their pools, or they both finish second.
Malawi pushed the Ferns to the brink at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow a year ago, losing by just three goals (50-47).
It would be a major surprise if Malawi did not advance to the next round, but whether or not the Queens can advance to the semifinals for the first time in history is another question altogether.
A lack of preparation certainly will not help. A shortage in funds means the team is playing only one warm-up match, against Trinidad and Tobago, in the lead-up to the World Cup.
