Preparations on hold

By PARKER TAMBUA
PAPUA New Guinea’s preparations for the Singapore Series and the Oceania qualifiers for Under-21 Netball World Cup have been put on hold following the deferral of the events.
Netball PNG president Ulato Avei told The National yesterday that the Oceania Netball Federation and the International Netball Federation had suspended the qualifiers, which were initially scheduled for September in Fiji.
“We are awaiting further advice from the Oceania Netball Federation and the International Netball Federation,” she said.
“We were looking forward to the qualifiers as our squad had been training hard.
“We had to suspend the second selection trials to select the final 15-man squad.
“Our 25-man squad had been training until the announcement. But our training programme will resume after next month. Nevertheless, our technical team has provided home-based training programme to each athlete and are closely monitoring them.”
For the Pepes (national women’s team), Ulato said the Singapore Series – initially scheduled for October – had been push back to December.
Avei said Pepes training had also been suspended.
“The (Netball PNG) board plans to participate to improve our world ranking,” she said.
“However, this will be subject to availability of funds and the institutionalisation of a rigorous selection policy. I would like to see a well-prepared team to compete in the Singapore Series.
“Our technical team have completed a training programme and are awaiting the state of emergency to be lifted next month.
“Netball PNG’s main challenge is the resumption of the Rita Flynn Courts. Most of the training activities are conducted there. We will do a mid-term review of all our programmes after next month.”