The Tongan Tala lost to Malawi Queens in a tight clash at the Netball World Cup, yesterday 3 August, in Cape Town, South Africa.
“It was the Malawi Queens who held on for a 56-51 victory in a match that was closer than appeared in the final scoreline”, SuperSport reported.
It was neck and neck in the opening quarter of the encounter as the two sides matched each other’s physicality and intensity. They went into the first break level on 13-13.
In the second quarter, the Malawi scored an eight goal lead before Tonga scored their first goal of the period.
Several crucial substitutions saw Tonga managing to stem the flow somewhat towards the latter part of the period, but they still found themselves five goals down by the end of the half.
The Queens maintained their lead, there was just one goal between the sides in the quarter score.
The Tala then turned the tables in the final quarter as the Queens began to tire.
The Malawians had done enough damage in that crucial second quarter, however, and held on for the 56-51 win.
The Tala will battle South Africa in the 5th-8th playoffs on 4th August (5:00am Saturday Tongan time)
The winners of each match will play in Sunday's fifth and sixth-placed play-off.
The losers will play in the seventh and eighth-placed play-off on Sunday.
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