Central Dabaris resume training on approval from PNGSF

THE Central Dabaris yesterday resumed preparations for the upcoming Digicel Cup season at Sir John Guise Stadium following last week’s approval from the Papua New Guinea Sports Foundation (PNGSF).
Since the closure of all sporting venues in compliance with the month-long national isolation strategy, the Dabaris and other franchises had to train elsewhere.
Coach Gairo Pepena told The National yesterday that they were relieved to resume training at the stadium and were looking forward to a trial match which was subject to approval from the national pandemic response controller and PNGSF.
“Since the closure of all sporting facilities, we moved our training to Papa village from March 22-26,” Pepena said.
“It was an expensive exercise, so we decided to come back and train at the Tokarara 1-Mile community sports ground from March 29 to April 23.
“Our training has been good with encouraging signs from the team and my coaching staff, so we’re looking forward to kicking off our season.”
Pepena said they were hoping to have another trial match to see where they were at compared with their previous trials against reigning champions Hela Wigmen and Gulf Isou.
“Teams like the Port Moresby Vipers, Wigmen, Gurias and Lae Snax Tigers have set the benchmark in the competition,” he said.
“It will be good to have a trial match against them to see how we have progressed from our previous trials.
“Despite setbacks in our training, my main objective is to keep the players together and focus on our season opener.”