Cook Islands netball team is out of contention for a medal at the Pacific Games after finishing third in their pool following losses to Tonga and Papua New Guinea in Honiara, Solomon Islands.

Cook Islands won the netball gold medal at the 2019 Pacific Games in Samoa.

Netball Cook Islands secretary Tekura Moeka’a said they will be playing for the 5^th/6^th placing today.

Cook Islands started their campaign well thumping Vanuatu 84-13 and Niue 72-13 before going down to Papua New Guinea 37-67 and favourites Tonga 30-77.

Moeka’a explained that only the top two teams from each pool advance to the knockout stages for medals.

From Pool A, Tonga and PNG have qualified and from Pool B, Fiji and Samoa.

“The games versus Tonga and PNG were great especially for a mostly new team. It would be nice to play Fiji and Samoa to get more experience,” Moeka’a said.

Moeka’a said that most of the team members are experiencing muscle soreness, and one player was feeling under the weather before the Tonga match.

However, she praised the team’s defence unit calling it clinical, and the shooting circle capitalised on every turnover.

“We had a good campaign and build up for the past 26 weeks versus teams who have been training for more than two years.”

Moeka’a acknowledged the support and prayers from families and the Cook Islands communities.

She also acknowledged head coach Rima Moeka’a who was unable to travel with the team and had been watching their games from home.