By Tapiwa Chawagarira
Zimbabwe’s Gems have been handed a fresh opportunity to fight for a place at the 2027 Netball World Cup after Africa Netball made a major adjustment to the closing stages of the Africa Netball Cup in Nairobi.
The Netball Association of Malawi (NAM) has confirmed that Africa Netball cancelled the scheduled semi-final between the Malawi Queens and South Africa, which had been due to take place on Thursday.
Under the revised arrangement, there will be no Africa Netball Cup semi-finals. Instead, Uganda and South Africa will proceed directly to the continental final, while Malawi and Zimbabwe will meet in a separate World Cup qualification playoff on Friday.
The development has caused concern in Malawi, with NAM seeking clarification from Africa Netball and World Netball over the changes to the qualification pathway.
According to Malawi24, NAM said Malawi entered the tournament on the understanding that the competition would determine qualification places for the 2027 Netball World Cup based on previously published criteria.
The association said the revised arrangement represented a significant change from the structure under which the Queens entered the competition.
The controversy comes after the Africa Netball Cup was initially presented as both the continent’s premier championship and the African qualification pathway for the Sydney 2027 World Cup.
World Netball’s official information confirms that the tournament, which is running from September 19 to 26 at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, features 10 nations. It also states that South Africa and Uganda had already qualified for the 2027 World Cup through their world ranking as of December 1, 2025.
The remaining African nations are therefore competing for additional World Cup places, making the qualification pathway particularly important for teams such as Zimbabwe and Malawi.
Malawi secured second place in Pool Two despite losing 54-49 to Uganda in their final group match on Wednesday. The Queens had earlier beaten Zambia, Kenya and Nigeria to progress to the knockout phase.
Zimbabwe, meanwhile, kept its World Cup hopes alive with a 73-28 victory over Tanzania in its final Pool One match. The win came after a 31-47 defeat to Namibia had left the Gems needing a strong response to remain in contention.
The revised programme means Friday’s Malawi-Zimbabwe encounter will carry significant World Cup implications, with the winner moving closer to securing a place at the Sydney 2027 global showpiece.
For the Gems, the change represents a second chance after a difficult group-stage campaign, while Malawi now faces an unexpected route after originally preparing for a continental semi-final against South Africa.
The two teams are no strangers to high-pressure encounters on the African stage, but Friday’s meeting will carry added significance as the result will determine one of the remaining pathways to Sydney.
South Africa and Uganda, meanwhile, will turn their attention to the Africa Netball Cup final, with the continental title now being decided separately from the qualification playoff involving Malawi and Zimbabwe.
The revised structure had been anticipated in the tournament’s original planning. SuperSport reported before the competition that if South Africa and Uganda both reached the latter stages, a separate World Cup qualification pathway would be activated, with qualification semi-finals scheduled for September 25 and the World Cup qualifier final on September 26.
The developments have nevertheless left Malawi seeking answers, with NAM questioning the process through which the revised qualification arrangement was introduced.
As the Africa Netball Cup enters its final stages, attention will now turn to the Malawi Queens and Zimbabwe Gems, whose Friday showdown has effectively become a high-stakes battle on the road to Sydney 2027.
