MZUZU--Stand-in Malawi national netball team coach Griffin Saenda isn’t leaving anything to chance, saying he will conjure something up in the event ace professional netball Mwawi Kumwenda fails to turn up for the Queens preparing for the Africa Netball Championship in Tanzania next month.

Mwawi’s Australian side, the Peninsula Waves, said last week they were reluctant to release their talisman Mwawi because they have not heard anything from the Netball Association of Malawi (Nam) concerning the pending championship although the association insists it has communicated with the side and there are indications that the player might join the team in Tanzania.

Not wanting to be caught pants down, Saenda says he already developed a fallback plan should Mwawi fail to make the trip to Tanzania.

“Of course Mwawi is one of our best players and she is currently on top of her game. If she can’t make it we will do with the other players because they are equally good,” Saenda, who has agreed to act as interim Queen’s coach after the unceremonious resignation of Edith Kaliati a few weeks ago, told one of Malawi’s two dailies, The Nation in an interview.

Saenda’s has various options following the presence of blue eagle’s teenage shooter Joyce Mvula and Bingu Tigresses duo Sindie Simtowe and Linda Magombo Munthali.

The Queens started camping for the event on Tuesday and are training at Blantyre Youth Centre in Blantyre.
Saenda said he would concentrate on both physical and tactical training.

“We will go flat out because we don’t have enough time to specialized training,” he said.

Saenda was for a long time the Queens head coach before Nam controversially sacked him and replaced him with Kaliati, his assistant at the time of his ouster.

He is credited with the national netball team’s achievements and Kaliati left the team when Saenda took it to. The Queens are still ranked first in Africa and fifth in the world.
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©2012 The Maravi Post. Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgment