BY LISA PUNI
The Human Capital Management Solutions Junior Tennis Open tournament 2023 commenced competition last Friday and ended today.
This weekend long junior tennis open tournament witnessed 60 participants competing leading up to today.
While most of the participants were from Port Moresby, the tournament also featured players from Lae, Morobe province as well as the Australian High Commission which sent a number of their children to participate in the tournament. The ages of the children ranges from 8 to18 years of age.
The tournament has under 10, under 12, under 14, under 16 and under 18 divisions.
“The HMCS Junior Tennis Open Tournament 2023 is under the PNG Tennis Association and it’s attracting 60 participants with ages ranging from 8 to 18,” PNG Jnr Tennis Initiative Coordinator, Linda Paru said.
“It is an open junior tennis tournament, it is expected to attract participants from the Western Pacific Region including Australia and New Zealand,” Paru added.
“This tournament is a lead up to the Western Pacific Qualifier scheduled for May this year in Vanuatu. Out of the 60 participants, the top players will be selected to form a national team to compete against Western Pacific countries like Solomon Islands and Fiji,” Paru further added.
The tournament was last held in Fiji and this year, it will be held in Vanuatu. The under 12 children will compete in a team event whilst the under 14 and 16 will compete individually. In 2 weeks time, only 14 children out of the 60 participants will be selected to form the national team.