NATIONAL under-21 coach Moape Vu took to the courts yesterday to help the Fiji Teachers Association (FTA) netball side beat Lyndhurst 18-16 in the final of the Suva Netball Association (SNA) businesshouse knockout.
Vu was the top points scorer for FTA in the final of the NewWorld-sponsored tournament at the National Netball Centre.
The knockout was used to mark the start of the SNA business house competition.
Games director Ruci Camaitoga said despite the rain, games went well and the knockout was a good way to start the season.
“FTA edged Fiji Sports Council 1 16-15 in the first semi-final while Lyndhurst beat FNPF 13-11 in the other,” Camaitoga said.
“In the tough and intense final of the knockout, Moape Vu stood out and helped FTA beat Lyndhurst.”
This was the first time the knockout tournament was played in the eight-year history of the competition and last year’s weekly competition winners BSP One did not even reach the quarter-finals.
“We had some six new teams register with us for the new season and two of the them reached the quarter-finals while BSP did not even make it to the last eight,” she said.
“This shows that competition between the teams is really strong and we cannot count any team out.
“But the top four teams today (yesterday) will be the ones to reckon with in the weekly competition.
The weekly competition is expected to run for seven weeks and Camaitoga said BSP One will need to pull up their socks if they want to retain their title.
“The new teams like Holiday Inn, OCIS, Digicel, Vodafone, Shakinah Law Shooters and Aus-Aid were really impressive today (yesterday),” she said.
“Holiday Inn and Digicel even made it to the quarter-finals despite not having national or district reps in their teams. So with the way the knockout went, I think BSP will need to work harder compared to last season if they want to keep the business house title for a fourth straight year.”