PNG Pepes

PNG Pepes named for Tri-Series

The three-day tournament is scheduled from March 5-7  at the Sir John Guise Indoor Stadium.

The Singapore National Team and 2015 Victoria State Championship team the Victorian Fury have been invited to take part. 

Pepes boasts youth and experience and consists of majority of regulars that have been participating in recent international events including the 2015 Pacific Games and Nations Cup.

The team has on board youngster Serina Ovia who will be making her debut for the Pepes. She plays a defender and is part of the U21 training squad.

PNG Pepes to host invitational Tri-Series

The three day tournament from 5-7 March and will involve Pepes invitational squad, Singapore National Team and 2015 Victoria State Championship team the Victorian Fury. 

The Tri-Series is an initiative of Netball PNG and WaterAid funded by the Australian Government and helps to celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD).

Netball PNG president Julienne Leka-Maliaki said they recognise the importance of partnerships with regional countries and thanked WaterAid for being very supportive.

Netball boss ‘extremely happy’

The Pepes finished second at the tournament behind winners Northern Ireland. Six teams took part in the tournament.

“The girls did well despite having only 11 players. The board is very happy with the result which is an improvement from their performance at the last Nations Cup,” said Leka Maliaki.

She added that, going forward the team will continue to train and keep fit for upcoming international events scheduled for March next year.

Pepes improve ranking at Nations Cup

Our girls took out silver after losing to Northern Ireland 52-41 to finish second in the tournament.

From the beginning, 12th world ranked Northern Ireland paired their top scorers Jenna and Kyla Bowman who proved effective as they raced to take the first quarter 16-4.

Pepes, 16th world ranked, piled on the pressure in the second quarter as goal shooter Tiata Baldwin paired up with captain Lua Rikis to tip the second quarter in PNG’s favour, nicking it 15-14.

Pepes nudged out by Nth Ireland

They lost to a strong team,  Northern Ireland,  47-35 in Singapore late yesterday.

Kicking the match off to a great start, Pepes demonstrated a mix of swift passes and astounding team play in split seconds, propelling their score to a huge lead of 11-4 by the end of the first quarter.

Solid team play between Northern Ireland’s goal shooter Jenna Bowman and goal attack Sarah Montgomery helped escalate their count to 19-9 by the end of the second quarter.

Pepes to face Northern Ireland

Both teams are so far undefeated in the tournament.

Northern Ireland who are ranked 12th in the world have done it relatively easy with wins over Botswana, Singapore Invitational and Chinese Taipei.

The 16th placed Pepes on the other hand have also registered wins over the same teams but by closer margins.

The match will get underway at 5pm (7pm PNG time) at the OCBC Arena.

PNG Netball President, Julienne Leka Maliaki said she is confident the Pepes can cause an upset.

PNG Pepes into gold medal finals

PNG will play the winner of tonight’s (7pm) quarterfinal match between Fiji and Samoa.

Fiji is the favorites to defend their gold medal in the Pacific Games Netball competition.

They have won Gold four times already: 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2007.

Netball was not contested in the 2011 Games.

PNG edge out Samoa in netball

PNG captain Lua Rikis continued her top form leading in front as she only missed one attempt from the 32 shots at goal.

Samoa started the match on a high, as their center court player Brooke Williams used her speed around the court directing play.

She combined well with wing attack Hanalei Temese, giving Samoa goal shooter Julianna Naoupu Laban free balls to put them in front at the sound of the first quarter siren 19-13.