Young Pepes praised for performance

The co-captains of the gold medal-winning PNG Pepes have praised the four young players who did well in their first senior international tournament in Vanuatu during the Pacific Mini Games.
The four debutants were Boio Peter, Ravusiro Vali, Carol Kanapoti and Genevieve Ume.
The youngsters who previously played in the under-21 national team, made their senior debut in memorable fashion.
Co-captains Jacklyn Lahari and Lua Rikis praised the performance of the debutants, saying they had adapted well by fitting into the playing style and team structure of the senior side.
“We had Carol (Kanapoti) in the starting seven who did well in the first two quarters and Boio (Peter) coming in at half time. She (Boio) has natural talent and ability; it was great to watch her playing at goalkeeper,” Rikis said.
The Pepes went through the four-team competition undefeated to pick up the gold medal. They beat Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Tonga to top the competition.
“They all showed a lot of maturity on the court, especially under pressure,” Rikis said.
“During the final, Tonga had the advantage with their tall shooters but our girls stuck to the game plan. Jacklyn (Lahari) and Neritha (Adula) in the mid court supported the girls, with Boio (Peter) backing Rayleen (Andrew) up all the way.”
The next major engagement for the Pepes will be the Oceania World Cup qualifiers taking place in April in New Zealand. The top four ranking nations including PNG (17), Fiji (9), Samoa (14) and Cook Islands (22) will participate at this event to secure a spot in the netball World Cup.
The top two finishers in the qualifier will book their place at the netball World Cup to be held in Liverpool, England, in July, 2019.
Rikis said the signs were good for PNG netball, with a lot of talented young players pushing for spots in the senior team.
“We have a lot of young players coming through and we are not expecting big results. We will develop and build our team and hopefully we will be ready,” Rikis said.
“I’m confident about the girls coming through. I want to continue to work with the team to help develop this group of players.”