PNG improves rankings on court

By JACK AMI 
The Papua New Guinea national men’s and women’s basketball teams improved their rankings during the Pacific Championships in Poirura, New Zealand last year.
This was revealed by Basketball Federation PNG to this newspaper yesterday
The teams did extremely well with the women’s team coming 4th out of a pool of 8, missing out on a bronze medal to Tahiti and the men coming 6th out of 8 teams.  From a Pacific Games perspective, our women are now ranked 2nd while our men are ranked 5th.
 In 2011, the men’s team was ranked seventh while the women were fifth place. The remarkable improvement in ranking is a boost in the lead up to and preparation for the 2015 Pacific Games on home soil.  
BFPNG commended the national teams who participated in the Pacific Championships in Poirura, New Zealand from the November 27 to December 5, 2013.
In its acknowledgements it said the results would not have been possible without the support of corporate sponsors, the national government, the PNG Olympic Committee – Go for Gold programme, Minister of Sports, 2015 Pacific Games and National Events,and the PNG Sports Foundation.
“The federation looks towards your continued support in preparation for the 2015 Pacific Games,” the federation said in a statement.