Malawi promises a battle against Ferns

Malawi is making up for lost time with its captain, Peace Chawinga, laying down the gauntlet to the champion New Zealanders ahead of their world netball tournament opening clash.

The experienced campaigner says that if the Silver Ferns want to beat Malawi in tomorrow night's opening match in Auckland they will have to "sweat for it".

"Who are they not to be beaten?" Chawinga said of the Ferns.

"They have two legs, we have two legs," she said.

" They have two hands, we have two hands.

"If they want to win against Malawi they will have to run. They will have to sweat for it."

She said Malawi was going to make sure there would "be some upsets" at this world championships and that the team believed it was "the best".

However, Malawi has had a far from smooth arrival at the world event after experiencing visa problems en route to Auckland.

The subsequent change in flights meant the team touched down more than a day after its scheduled arrival.

Chawinga did not believe it would disrupt Malawi's build-up too much, although it missed a warm-up match against Australia on Wednesday night.

Her side starts its third world tournament without a ranking after missing the 2003 tournament because of a lack of funding.

But Malawi showed its promise last year at the Commonwealth Games when it finished sixth, beating world No. 5 South Africa along the way.

It backed it up with a drawn series against South Africa this year.

Now Chawinga wants a world ranking to match its recent performances.

She said Malawi, which is fielding four players from the 1995 world championships, was excited about playing against the Silver Ferns.

Officials recognised the strength of Malawi to match it as the Ferns' opponent in the tournament opener.

"An opening game doesn't have to be a one-sided game," she said.

"It has to be balanced for people to enjoy."

She warned the netballing public not to underestimate her team.

"If they underrate us, they're in for a surprise."

The Ferns and Malawi met at last year's Commonwealth Games, New Zealand winning 67-39.

But the match was remembered for the 20-plus passes Malawi took from the centre pass-off before getting the ball into the hands of its shooters.

Chawinga made no apologies for her team's style, which she described as "unreadable".

"If we can play our system and some teams are having problems to cut off that, let's stick to it," she said.