PNG to play evening matches

By JACK AMI
HOSTS Papua New Guinea will play most of their matches at next month’s Fiba U15 Oceania Basketball Championships in the evenings, according to an official.
Basketball Federation of PNG president Nick Daroa, pictured, confirmed that after Fiba released the tournament schedule.
For the boys, Australia, New Zealand, Guam and Samoa make up pool A.
PNG, Tonga and Fiji make up pool B.
For the girls, Australia, New Zealand, PNG, Samoa, Tonga and Fiji all play in a single pool.
The winners will qualify for the Oceania Youth Championships.
Daroa said the schedule would to allow PNG supporters — both workers and students — to attend the matches.
He said this was a good opportunity to stage the inaugural Oceania U15 Championships in the country.
“This is also a bonus for us, as our young players will experience their first taste of international matches in front of their home crowd,” Daroa said.
“We have several exciting male players like Morea Elavo Jr.”
For Elavo, he is looking to continue his family’s legacy in the sport.
“This teenager loves basketball so much and talks a lot about it especially on social media,” Daroa said.
“These players have taken it seriously and are doing their own training at Hohola nearly every day to keep fit and sharp for the matches.”