12 teams confirmed for Southern leg of Ipatas Cup

Normal, Sports
Source:

The National, Thursday 26 January 2012

By KEVIN TEME
TWELVE teams will take part in the Southern leg of the Ipatas Cup challenge next month.
Ipatas Cup chief executive officer Timothy Lepa earlier restricted the number of teams to eight but with the interest high in the National Capital District, he said he would cater for 12 teams for the Southern leg.
This is also the first time for the Ipatas Cup to be held in Port Moresby. The teams are Port Moresby Butterflies, Paga Panthers, POM Diwai, Kerema West, Hisiu Knights, Kinjons, Morata Swans, Laigap Brothers, Tia Broncos, Aroma Coast, Hiri Gaigais and Rigo Raiders.
Southern regional coordinator Mairi Gwabo said the teams were preparing for the event which kicks off on Feb 17-19.
“We had previously anticipated 12 teams because of the number of teams showing interest. It was really hard for us to make a decision.
“But after consulting with Lepa we settled for 12,” Gwabo said.
The winners of the Southern leg will walk away with K10,000 and a gold pass to playoff for the ultimate prize money of K200,000 in Lae.
He said the first trial match for the teams would be held at Kilakila on Feb