An upbeat Malawi Queens begin their 2019 Africa Netball Cup campaign with hosts South Africa on Friday, 18 October.

The game is expected to start from 6 pm local time at Bellville Velodrome, Cape Town in South Africa.

The Queens are taking the game as a revenge on what South Africa did to them last time when Malawi hosted the tournament in Blantyre. The Queens lost in the final.

The arrival in Queens camp on Monday by three UK-based netball icons Joyce Mvula, Lauren Ngwira and Takondwa Lwazi has boosted the morale for the team. The trio joined the team in Cape Town and Mvula described the first match as important.

“We will use this match to revenge what they did to us way back in Malawi. Memories are still fresh and it feels good to be part of the team which has the potential to deliver,” she said.

The Queens next assignment is on Saturday against Zambia from 2 pm. The tournament has Uganda, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, South Africa and Malawi all participating. The teams will battle it out across 5 days between the 18th – 22nd October to be crowned champions.

Here are the fixtures for Friday
Uganda v Zimbabwe – 8 am
Zambia v Lesotho – 11 am
Kenya v Tanzania – 12 pm
Opening ceremony – 4 pm
South Africa v Malawi – 6 pm