From June 10-15, the Pacific Netball Series will be held for the fourth time. The series is run by PacificAus Sports, hosted by Netball Australia, and funded by the Australian Government. The Government has just announced an extension of its partnership with Netball Australia to support netball pathways in the Pacific.
This year, the Pacific Netball Series is being held at Nissan Arena in Brisbane and entry is free for those who want to watch the action live. Tonga will be looking for a fourth straight win in the series, but last year, they were pushed all the way, first by Samoa in the semi-finals, then by Fiji in the final.
For the first time, an Australian First Nations team called the Black Swans is competing alongside five national teams from Asia, Oceania, and Africa. Matches will be shown on several TV networks in the Oceania region and also streamed for free in Australia and internationally through Netball Pass.
TEAMS
TONGA (Ranking: 8)
FIJI (Ranking: 15)
SAMOA (Ranking: 17)
NAMIBIA (Ranking: 20)
SINGAPORE (Ranking: 24)
FIRST NATIONS AUS
SCHEDULE
(Times – AEST)
SAMOA & TONGA: Add 3 hours
FIJI: Add 2 hours
SINGAPORE: Subtract 2 hours
NAMIBIA: Subtract 8 hours
ROUND 1
FIJI 67 def SINGAPORE 52
(17-12, 36-27, 56-37, 67-52)
SAMOA 55 def NAMIBIA 47
(17-11, 28-23, 44-36, 55-47)
TONGA 62 def FIRST NATIONS AUS 50
(18-11, 31-26, 45-38, 62-50)
ROUND 2
3pm – SAMOA v FIJI
5pm – FIRST NATIONS AUS
7pm – NAMIBIA v TONGA
ROUND 3
3pm – FIRST NATIONS AUS v FIJI
5pm – SINGAPORE v NAMIBIA
7pm – TONGA v SAMOA
ROUND 4
3pm – NAMIBIA v FIRST NATIONS AUS
5pm – SINGAPORE v SAMOA
7pm – FIJI v TONGA
ROUND 5
3pm – SAMOA v FIRST NATIONS AUS
5pm – TONGA v SINGAPORE
7pm – FIJI v NAMIBIA
FINALS
11am – 5th v 6th PLAYOFF
1pm – 3rd v 4th PLAYOFF
3pm – GRAND FINAL
4:30pm – PRESENTATIONS
Tonga’s captain Hulita Veve holds aloft the PacificAus Sports Series trophy in 2023. Photo: Simon Leonard.
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