The Malawi National Council of Sports has taken the blame for the gymnastics team’s poor performance at the ongoing African Union Sports Council Region 5 Youth Games in Lilongwe.

Sports Council board chairperson Sunduzwayo Madise and spokesperson Edgar Ntulumbwa yesterday admitted they did not plan to have a gymnastics team at the games, but they had to form it at the eleventh hour just to fulfil the games’ rules.

Madise: We are sorry

This comes after a video clip went viral on social media platforms, showing a Team Malawi athlete attempting some somersaults that are way below gymnastics standards on Sunday.

Malawi does not practise gymnastics and does not have equipment for the sport.

Madise wrote on his Facebook page: “On chipidigoliro [somersault], which is the trending topic, Euthini [Malawi] does not have a gymnastics team. But being hosts, we had to present a team.

“Pepani a Malawi anzanga. Apapayalakwa. Yalakwa zedi. Khululukani. [Apologies my fellow Malawians. This is really unfortunate but please forgive]. And, please, show some love for the young girl.”

On the other hand, Ntulumbwa said gymnastics was not among the 10 sporting codes that Malawi planned for the games, but were forced to form a team because, “as hosts, we were supposed to take part in every discipline as per the rules of the games”.

He said: “Our gymnasts did not have camp training prior to their participations for the games. We came up with the team in respect of the rules, which require that hosts have to partake in every code.”

In an interview yesterday, Madise said the council takes the blame for the gymnastics poor showing, saying with limited resources and equipment, chances of doing well were slim.

He said: “We really admit that we could have done better. Of course, we could have refused to participate in the sporting code, but how could this be perceived being hosts, considering that, although winning is important, the main purpose of the games is to bring the youth together, share cultures and have fun?

“Nevertheless, for everything, there is a starting point. We should focus on how we can embrace the sport. For instance, there was a time Malawi youth football team beat e-Swatini 7-1 but, with time, they upped their game. We can do the same with gymnastics.”

Generally, Malawi had a rough ride in various codes at the games in the past three days.

In lawn tennis, Malawi lost all their eight singles’ knockout matches with four defeats apiece in boys’ category and the girls’ section.

The boys’ section saw Austine Phiri losing 3-6 3-6 to Botswana’s Esimolefe, Mitchell Mbewe went down 0-6 1-6 to Zimbabwe’s Benedict Badza and George Napoleon lost 1-6 0-6 to Zimbabwean Takula Mhwandagara. Golden Kamanga was beaten 1-6 1-6 by Mark Nawa of Botswana.

In the girls’ category, Atupele Kadam’manja lost 3-6 3-6 to Magrate Chewe of Zambia while Chifundo Mbewe suffered 0-6 4-6 defeat to Naledi Raguin of Botswana. Medi Theu was beaten 5-7 1-6 by Angola’s Gabriela Martins as Linda Nyangu lost 0-6 0-6 to Zimbabwean Sasha Chimedza.

Malawi lawn tennis team manager Prisca Maloya said although they have been booted out of the singles matches, her charges put up a gallant fight and are confident to do well in the doubles events today.

In basketball, the boys Under-17 national team suffered a 43–78 loss to the tournament favourites Angola at the Griffin Saenda Sports Complex on Sunday evening. They went into the game oozing confidence following their 78-44 victory over South Africa in an earlier match.

The Malawi volleyball team made its debut at the games with the boys side going down 3-0 to Zimbabwe.

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