UPNG Chiefs to take part in international tournament

THE University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) Chiefs basketball team are expected to compete in the International University Sports Federation Oceania 3×3 continental qualifying tournament in New Zealand next month with preparations currently underway.
UPNG Basketball Association president Sepu Samson said they received an invitation from PNG High Performance Sport manager Cornelius Papau to represent the university.
“We are excited to take part in this tournament because it is our first, especially for UPNG to be competing amongst other universities around the Pacific in basketball,” Samson said.
“This tournament will be held at the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, so we are looking forward to it.”
Samson said trial matches were held between the five schools within UPNG before selecting the final squad.
“Prior to receiving the invite, we placed flyers out and ran a couple of trials here at the main campus and at the Taurama Aquatic and Indoor Centre to ensure representation was made by the five schools to pick a final squad,” he said.
“(We did this) with the help of Basketball Federation PNG representative Jordan Sere, national basketball team’s head coach Dia Muri and Mr Papau.
“Since it is a 3×3 basketball comp, we are only allowed to take four players.
“Since it’s the first for UPNG to be competing, we have allowed to take two female teams and a male team with an extra player on the bench in case of injuries.
“With inclusion of our officials, a total of 17 people will be travelling for the event.”
He said the tournament would be a great exposure for the young talent both in sports and academic.
The Chiefs are expected to depart a week prior to the tournament from July 21-22 in Auckland, New Zealand.