Pepes effort praised

By HENRY MORABANG
THE Papua New Guinea netball board and the fraternity were happy with the gold medal performance by the Pepes at the 2017 Pacific Mini Games in Port Vila, Vanuatu.
The Pepes went through the four-team competition undefeated to pick up the gold medal. They defeated Vanuatu (76-23), Solomon Islands (73-47) and Tonga (72-61) to top the competition.
Netball board chairperson Julianne Leka-Maliaki said the board was extremely pleased with the management team.
The management team included the Brisbane-based head coach Christina Carswell and Team manager Dianne Lahari and the co-captains Lua Rikis and Jacqueline Lahari, who led the team to win PNG’s first gold medal at a Pacific Games event.
“These are a special group of netballers as they will go down in history as the “Golden Pepes” and the “beacon of hope” for aspiring and potential Pepes and the future of netball in PNG,” Leka-Maliaki said.
She said the gold victory result gave Netball PNG renewed hope for the future of netball in country and how Netball PNG could continue to improve hereon.
She said winning the gold medal was also a boost for PNG Pepes as they now have to prepare for the regional World Cup qualifiers in Auckland, New Zealand, from April 18-22.
The netball chief said this regional event was important for the team to finish in the top two in order to attend the World Cup in Liverpool, England, in 2019.