THE Baby Pearls under-21 Netball team faced tough competition in the World Youth Cup Oceania Qualifier held in Cook Islands, as they suffered defeats in their first two matches.
In their opening game, they were defeated by Samoa with a final score of 32-51, followed by another loss to Toga Tala with a score of 40-64.
Despite the defeats, Netball Fiji’s chief executive officer Vivian Koster emphasised that the main objective of sending the team to the qualifiers was to gain valuable game time and experience.
With the Baby Pearls already qualified for the 2025 World Youth Cup, the qualifiers serve as a platform for the team to prepare and assess their performance against strong opponents.
Koster acknowledged that there are lessons to be learned from the losses and expressed optimism for the team’s upcoming matches.
“At the end of the day, we’re happy, that they’ve got their first game down. We acknowledge that there are lessons to be learned, and we are looking forward to what they’ll do in their match today and the remainder of their matches.”
The Baby Pearls will use the remaining matches in the tournament to improve and showcase their skills, with the goal of gaining valuable experience and enhancing their performance on the international stage.
