By Stephanie Smarrelli
An electric atmosphere at the Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre played host to the Tonga Tala defeating the Malawi Queens by 13 goals in an entertaining match.
In a battle between the sixth and seventh ranked teams in world netball Malawi started with the first centre pass. However, a deflection from Tonga’s Valu Toutaiolepo to captain Hulita Veve resulted in the ball soaring down to Tala’s Uneeq Palavi for the first goal.
A frenetic first few minutes of play had the ball seesawing between the two sides, however, Tonga settled the fastest, the Tala getting out to a two-goal lead before Sindi Simtowe for Malawi scored the African nation’s first goal.
Malawi then evened the scores with goal defence Martha Dambo getting an intercept and captain Jane Chimaliro sealing the deal.
However, Tonga were ignited by a lively crowd, they attacked every pass and reaped the rewards with the dynamic defensive duo of Kelea Iongi and Toutaiolepo out hunting.
A rare disconnect in Tonga’s attack end had the Malawi Queens flying down the court to a calm and collected Chimaliro who put the Queens only one goal behind ahead of quarter time.
Malawi centre Takondwa Lwazi took the first centre pass of the second quarter giving Malawi a goal to even the scores, a miss from Tonga then was capitalised on with the Queens stealing the lead.
The intensity across the entire court lifted with both sides applying physical defensive pressure and proving they weren’t afraid to fly for an intercept.
Tonga’s Lucia Fauonuku was instrumental in shutting down the Queen’s second phase and forced them to take the long route to the goal circle. While Malawi’s Laureen Ngwira kept on her toes ensuring the Tonga feeders thought twice before sending the ball in.
It was a close opening half.
An intercept from Tonga captain Hulita Veve sent the crowd wild as she catapulted her team forwards again, drawing level with the Queens after having fallen slightly behind and then intercepting again to enable them to take the lead.
At halftime scores were 23 to 22 with Malawi just falling short of time to level the scores once again.
Tonga charged early in the third quarter making the most of a few offensive contact calls against the Queens to establish a six-goal lead. The hard work of Iongi and Toutaiolepo in defence paying dividends. While in attack Palavi continued to slot goal after goal, shooting at 96 per cent throughout the series she continued her form in the third quarter.
The Queens continued to fight, however, the speed, accuracy and defence from Tonga Tala began to look more and more unstoppable as the third quarter wore on.
At the end of a dominant third quarter from Tonga they sat seven goals ahead against the world number six Malawi.
Tonga stormed early in the fourth quarter as they did in the third, turning over the ball in defence to add another goal to their tally. Toutaiolepo then snatching the ball mid-air to further send the sea of red crowd into a frenzy.
The Queens didn’t back down and continued to battle for the ball with Lwazi and Shira Dimba racing through the midcourt to try to get their side scoring as quickly as possible, however, Tonga were too formidable to stop.
The Tonga Tala remaining undefeated and claiming their third PacificAus Sports Netball Series title.
Tonga's Uneeq Palavi was named the match MVP with teammate Hulita Veve claiming the series MVP alongside Samoa's Abigail Latu-Meafou.
Tonga's Hulita Veve was instrumental throughout the week. FINAL PLACINGS
1. Tonga
2. Malawi
3. Zambia
4. Fiji
5. Samoa
6. Kenya
7. Singapore
8. Papua New Guinea
