Team Fiji Junior girls Nico­nia Wivou and Alexandria Chand came second behind joint winners Papua New Guinea and Tahiti at the 2022 Les Petits Requins tournament in New Cal­edonia in the weekend.

In the Individual events (singles) Mehiti (Tahiti) was placed first ahead of Chand (Fiji) while Leah of Guam finished third and Niconia Wivou (Fiji) settled for fourth spot.

In the doubles Fiji was placed first as Vanuatu roped in second place; the duo’s performance has set the benchmark for those representing Fiji to the tournament in the future.

Chand said this was her first tour­nament outside Fiji, playing against other top tennis players majority of whom are the best in the Pacific.

“I’m fortunate to have had this op­portunity to participate in this tour­nament as it has allowed me to learn from others about my current level of tennis,” Chand said.

“What I need to do to is improve on moving forward. This tourna­ment has allowed me to meet and make new friends from the Pacific; we share common interest, this will definitely help build my social skills both on and off the courts, these are also important for me.”

Enterprising Wivou said that she learnt how to be a disciplined player on and off the court.

She added that she now knows how to deal with pressure when playing singles and doubles.

“If there was anything I improved in, it was my serves, volleys and con­fidence,” she said.

“The competition not only taught me all the things I learnt in regards to my games but also allowed me to meet new people and make friends from other countries.

“Making new friends helped me get through the competition which made it enjoyable despite it being competitive. I’ve come out of this competition confident in myself and my game,” said Wivou.

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