Pepes start as favourites

By HENRY MORABANG
THE Papua New Guinea netball team — PNG Pepes — will start as favourites to win the gold medal at the Pacific Mini Games in Port Vila, Vanuatu.
The netball competition starts on Wednesday at Korman Indoor Hall 2.
With the absence of Fiji and Samoa, Tonga remain the only stumbling block for PNG Pepes as they compete in the four-team volleyball competition.
Papua New Guinea is pitted against Vanuatu, Tonga and Solomon Islands in the netball competition.
After their two trial matches in Australia last week, the Pepes are confident of putting their best performance to win gold during the Vanuatu Games.
In their first match in Brisbane, PNG Pepes went down to Brisbane East Tigers 63-58 but bounced back with a good 58-30 win over the indigenous side.
PNG Pepes arrived from Brisbane yesterday and they are now acclimatising before their games starts on Wednesday.
Fixtures: Wed, Dec 13 – Papua New Guinea v Vanuatu, Tonga v Solomon Islands; Thurs, Dec 14 – Papua New Guinea v Solomon Islands, Tonga v Vanuatu; Fri, Dec 15 – Solomon Islands v Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea v Tonga.