SUVA (Fiji) – The Papua New Guinea senior men’s team will look to retain their title when the curtains fall on the FIBA Melanesian Cup 2022, in Suva next week.

Having the home crowd advantage, which paved the way to the win in 2017, the side breezed through the tournament unbeaten.

They qualified from the preliminary rounds beating Solomon Islands (79-37), New Caledonia (87-80) and Fiji (83-49). Landing the gold medal match, PNG came out on top five years ago, beating New Caledonia with a convincing 81-63.

However, this time, both coach and captain are aware the 2022 edition will not be a walk in the park.

Captain Apia Muri says that while all teams will be putting their best foot forward, he is expecting the toughest challenge from the host team.

“I look forward to playing Fiji who will definitely have the home crowd advantage,” Muri said.  “They also have some great and experienced players who I have played against many times and who will be leading the charge for the host team.”

The FIBA Melanesian Cup 2017 All-Star five honour player, Apia Muri. also reiterated that the global pandemic has highlighted a new set of challengers.

“The global pandemic impacted the sport and our preparation with all the restrictions.  Therefore, there was a lot of personal and indoor training during that period.  It is good to be back in competitions and for us, we just want to play well as a team. With new boys in the squad, defence will be key while also focusing on getting the small things right, as small things make a big difference.”

His father and senior men’s coach, Moi Muri shared the same sentiment and is looking to focus on the team’s strength as they strategize for each game.  With notable exclusions of overseas based players like the Wright brothers, Coach Muri believes that the team can still deliver to expectation.

“We are taking a team that is totally locally based,” Coach Muri said.  “We do not have any overseas based players in this side as there were some issues in that regard. However, the local players have stepped up to the challenge with their individual brilliance. I hope to allow them to showcase their individual style that will bring depth for the side.”

He added that the leadership from senior and experienced players like the Muri brothers (Apia and Purari) and the recent exposure at the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup in Singapore, where they played against Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, will provide an added advantage for the side.

Having been appointed in late September, Coach Muri says that the team has been focusing on both physical and mental preparation and fine polishing their skills through high performance drills.

The tournament which serves as a sub-regional qualifier for the 2023 Pacific Games in Solomon Islands will see the top two teams progress accordingly. Thus, despite going in as reigning champions, PNG know that they can’t afford to rest on their laurels.

FIBA - Finau Vulivuli