Wan Mix win Taikone v’ball title

By HENRY MORABANG
WAN Mix 1 came from a set down to beat Manea 3-1 to win the Taikone open men’s volleyball championships at Taikone village outside Port Moresby on Saturday.
Sponsored by Maimu Pala and managed by his son Gideon, the team did not give in after losing the first set to Manea 25-18.
Wani Mix, dominated by players from After Dark team in the Fairfax Volleyball competition, bounced back to win the last three sets (25-19, 25-23, 25-18) to clinch the Cup and the K1,000 prizemoney while Manea collected K600.
Jets finished third and picked up K400 while RILA walked away with K200 after finishing fourth. Kila Barracks Royals finished fifth in the 12-team challenge and pocketed K100.
In the women’s finals, Breakers defeated their rivals Kone Melona 3-1 (25-22, 25-20, 18-25, 25-18) to win the shield and the K1,000 prizemoney.
Breakers registered wins in the first two sets but Kone Melonas regrouped and hit to win the third set.
The fourth set went down to the wire until midway through when Breakers started to sort out their puzzle to win the match convincingly 25-18.
Tournament director Jimmy Koite was satisfied with the three-day tournament which started last Thursday and ended on Saturday.
He said the tournament attracted teams from Moukele (Fisherman Island), Taikone, Kila Barracks and Hula.
Despite some minor hiccups on the opening day, the competition went smoothly with all teams happy with the prizes and administration of the competition.
Major sponsor Maino Pala said the community responded well and he would be hosting another competition in September with K20,000 as prizemoney.
Taikone village will be hosting a similar tournament on Easter weekend in April courtesy of Haraga Customs

learance (HCC) followed by a big one in September.