Malawi Queens beat Tonga 55-49 to wrap up Glasgow group stage

Malawi’s Queens rounded off their 2026 Commonwealth Games group campaign with a hard-fought 55-49 victory over Tonga at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow on Thursday morning, giving the Malawian side something to smile about after a bruising week in Pool A.

The two sides went toe-to-toe for large parts of the contest, with just six goals separating them at the final whistle in a match that lived up to its billing as a genuine arm-wrestle.

It was a fitting way to close out the group stage for both teams, who came into the fixture with contrasting fortunes but a shared hunger to finish on a high.

Malawi arrived at this game on the back of three straight defeats — to South Africa, England and world number one Australia — results that had already ended any lingering hopes of a semi-final berth in what remains one of the toughest groups at these Games.

But Deborah Fuller’s side showed the same fight that had briefly troubled Australia in the second half of Tuesday’s heavy loss, this time turning that physicality and intensity into a full-match performance that got the job done against Tonga.

For the Tongans, this was always going to be a stern test. The Tala arrived at the Hydro having been thumped 94-32 by England earlier in the tournament, part of a run of results against vastly more experienced opposition in Pool A.

Despite that, Tonga have shown real quality throughout the Games — not least their historic first-ever Commonwealth Games win over Northern Ireland — and they made the Queens work for every goal before falling short by six.

The win means Malawi close out their group stage campaign with two wins from five matches, having also beaten Northern Ireland 64-48 earlier in the tournament.

It’s scant consolation for a Queens side that once again found the step up to the world’s best — South Africa, England and Australia — a bridge too far, but the manner of this victory over

Tonga will offer genuine encouragement heading into the classification matches.

Captain Takondwa Lwazi was once again central to the effort, driving her side through the tighter passages of play as Tonga refused to go away quietly.

Malawi’s shooting circle, marshalled by the likes of Mwayi Kumwenda-M’bwana, has shown moments of real class in Glasgow even as results went against them this week — and that quality proved decisive when it mattered most on Thursday.

Malawi will now turn their attention to the classification matches as they look to finish the Games in the best possible position, with their final Group A placing determined by how the rest of the pool’s results shake out.

It’s not the finish many back home would have dreamed of when the Queens touched down in Scotland, but a battling win to end the group phase will matter to a squad that has fought hard against some of the toughest opposition in world netball all week.