Lae Tennis Club (LTC) Juniors played extremely well during the past weekend’s Tennis & Squash Open 2023, at the Port Moresby Racquets Club in Port Moresby. LTC President Mr. Glenn Cabasug, said they did well despite playing on a different surface in Port Moresby, which was synthetic grass with sand, as opposed to the hard courts in Lae. “Our Juniors came away with 7 trophies. This is a great improvement from our previous performance last year in the POM Open, where our Juniors came away with just 3 trophies.” The 7 trophies and players included: 1. U14 Mixed Champion - John Louie Domalaon. 2. U18 Boys Runner Up - John Louie Domalaon. 3. Doubles Open Plate Champion - John Louie Domalaon (with junior partner Michael Kapolis from POM). 4. U18 Boys Plate Champion - Chris Jose. 5. U18 Girls Plate Champion - Wagivogo Walter. 6. Ladies Open Plate Champion - Stacy Thomas. 7. U12 Mixed Plate Champion - Cassandra Thomas. The President said this clearly shows that the LTC Junior Development Program is on track. “Our LTC juniors progressing well and developing their skills through training and exposure in tournaments, locally and outside of Lae.” Mr. Cabasug thanked the LTC Juniors sponsors who made it possible for the Team to travel to Port Moresby to partake in the POM Open 2023. Sponsors for the LTC Junior Team include: 1. PNG AIR 2. RD TUNA CANNERS 3. LAE BISCUIT COMPANY 4. SOLAR SOLUTIONS 5. CHEMCARE GROUP 6. NIUGINI WHOLESALE DRUGS 7. PANAMEX PACIFIC 8. RECA ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT 9. ORACLE PACIFIC 10. WELLNESS LODGE 11. GUARD DOG SERVICES 12. ACE CAFE 13. POMRC He also went onto thank the LTC Committee for sharing their time over the past weekend to be with the LTC Junior Team, as well as the parents who supported their children and allowed them to be part of the team. “This trip has allowed our young juniors to gain more experience, more friends, and most importantly learn more about sportsmanship and respect towards others.” “Congratulations to the POM Racquets Club and its organizing committee for hosting a successful event which saw a very big number of players for both sporting codes, squash and tennis, and participants from other centers outside of Port Moresby and outside of PNG." Mr. Cabasug also congratulated the adopted juniors from Goroka who stayed with the LTC Juniors Team and tagged along throughout the weekend. “We look forward to the continuing training of our juniors, primarily in preparation for the next PNG Junior Tennis Open targeted for February 2024, which will once again be used as part of the selection process for juniors to represent PNG to the West Pacific Regional Championships in Fiji in May 2024.” The President congratulated all the players and winners for making LTC proud, saying the team will now have a well-deserved rest before training resumes again this Sunday.