Picture: The captains and coaches of South Africa and Malawi with the 2024 SPAR Challenge trophy at the pre-tournament press conference held at the Garden Court Eastgate hotel in Johannesburg on Tuesday/Supplied 

By REGINALD KANYANE

30 October 2024- New SPAR Proteas netball captain Khanyisa Chawane said her side are targeting a clean sweep in the Three-Test SPAR Challenge against Malawi in the City of Johannesburg starting this week. Speaking ahead of the first match on 31 October at the Ellis Park Arena, Chawane said their expectation is to win all three Test matches.

“We should win them convincingly because of the type of work we have put in and the type of players we have. We’ve got eight players who were at the Netball World Cup and Malawi have four, so we have much of an advantage and we want to make sure we use that.

“I’m very excited but above all, it’s a privilege and an honour to be in this position. Our team is full of leaders and having to be the leader of leaders is a great position to be in and I’m looking forward to going out with the girls and playing some good netball,” she said.

Chawane further said the Proteas will be taking to the court for the first time since December last year, and the excitement is high. She added that, if one looks at 2024, they have not been together as a team so this is really great for them.

“In training, we have been looking good and we’re really looking forward to it,” said Chawane.

While she was appointed at the start of the year, this will also be new SPAR Proteas head coach Jenny van Dyk’s first series in charge of the side.

The highly regarded coach admitted the pressure is on, but she is relishing the prospect of finally getting her tenure underway, echoing Chawane’s sentiments regarding a 3-0 series sweep.

“I definitely feel pressure. It’s been a long time and behind the scenes, we have worked hard. We are wanting to push for a 3-0 win. At the end of the day, that’s what we need to deliver.

“We know what our goals are and we know where we’re going towards, but it’s still breaking it down quarter to quarter and ball for ball and ticking all those small boxes and making sure we have all that in place in order for us to get that end result,” said Van Dyk.

The SPAR Proteas are currently ranked fifth in the world and Malawi are seventh.

Malawi coach Joanna Kachilika pointed out her side have been rebuilding with a focus on the 2026 Commonwealth Games, with only four players remaining from the squad that played at last year’s Netball World Cup in Cape Town.

“We need to prove that we are still the Malawi Queens, the African queens but we know it won’t be easy, it will be tough,” said Kachilika.

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