Malawi national handball squads started their campaign for the International Handball Federation Challenge Cup in South Africa with mixed fortunes after the female side won their opening game while the male team lost.

The women side defeated Zimbabwe 25-21 while the men team went down to Mozambique 48-12.

According to Malawi Handball Association (Maha) vice president Misheck Munthali, who is travelling with the delegation, the female side produced an impressive performance.

"It was a balanced game but our girls were strong and they deserved to win. This is the kind of start we were looking for," he said.

Munthali said the female side featured Tionge Kagwa, Lisa Kazembe, Veronica Sagwati, Angela Phiri, Coreta Doxen, Shakira Mumba, Mervis Moloko, Mercy Gondwe and Precious Nkhoma in the starting lineup.

The association's vice president said the female team is in a pole position to win a medal.

However, Munthali said the male side started sluggishly.

"They were a bit casual and it cost us the game dearly. However, we should also make it clearly that our friends [Mozambique] are well exposed," he said.

As we went to press on Tuesdayboth men and women squads were expected to face their Zambian counterparts.

This is the second time for Malawi women squad to participate in a similar tournament following their 2010 debut at a similar tournament in Zimbabwe.