Tennis team on course
The National, Tuesday July 14th, 2015
By MELTON PAIS
PERFORMANCES by local men and women in the tennis competition at the Pacific Games so far have demonstrated an advancement of tennis skills in the country
During the competition that started on July 5, the national men’s and women’s teams have done well and their performances have thrilled the supporters and the tireless team officials.
This week is the second week of the tennis competition and the PNG tennis athletes have earned the respect of their opponent teams from other Pacific Island countries, and most of all the Pacific champs New Caledonia.
PNG men’s team members Matthew Stubbings and Mark Gibbons have lost to the New Caledonians in the team event last Thursday and again in the singles quarterfinal qualifier match yesterday.
To make up for the loss by the men, PNG women team members, the Abigail Tere-Apisah and her young sister Marcia and niece Violet have performed extremely well in their match against their opponent and qualified for the quarter finals today.
In the women’s singles Abigail Tere-Apisah defeated Lorraine Banimataku of Vanuatu 6-0, 6-0 while her sister Marcia beat Estelle Tehau of Tahiti 6-1, 6-0 and their niece Violet defeated her Tongan opponent Sisilia Laumanu Teu 6-3, 6-1. The Apisahs have qualified for the quarter finals today. Abigail will take on Mayka Tehani Zima of Tahiti while Marcia will go up against New Caledonia’s Anna Pain while Violet faced compatriot Lysiane Moto in the women’s singles quarterfinals.
In the mixed event, Mark Gibbons and Abigail Tere-Apisah defeated Kevin Jeffery Ma’Ukaloa and Kalani Pisi Soli of American Samoa 6-1, 6-2 in the quarterfinals qualifying for today’s semi-finals.
In the other mixed event, Matthew Stubbings and Violet Apisah defeated Nickolsa Ngodrela and Ana Pain of New Caledonia to qualify for the semi-finals.
“Seeing the PNG teams winning a match in the competition is always an emotional moment,” Barbara Stubbings, mother of Matthew, said yesterday.
She said the wins mean that tennis was slowly advancing in PNG.