Four junior Cook Islands tennis players – ranked in the top four of the East Pacific – will depart next week to compete in the Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in Lautoka, Fiji.

In preparation for the tournament Maka Maui, Luke Pierre, Timeri Wearing and Raetea Rongo have been racking up the training hours in early morning sessions, six days a week from 5am to 6.30am.

“This is a very important tournament,” said Tennis Cook Islands (TCI) coach and manager of the team Malcolm Kajer, who will be traveling with the team.

If the team are to do well and place in the top four in the championships, there will be opportunities which can be subsidised to go to Australia or Asia, said Kajer.

Last month the East Pacific Qualifying Tennis Tournament was held in Fiji when Maui, Pierre and Wearing qualified in the 16s and Rongo in the 14s.

There were very close matches in the East Pacific tournament, he said.

“Hopefully we’ve brushed up on a few skills for them to see if we can pick up and improve those rankings when we’re playing,” Said Kajer.

Now that the North Pacific have their qualifiers, all the top players from each of these regions will come together in the next tournament to compete for the best in the South Pacific, he said.

“Basically, it’s to get a good ranking and to be the best on the South Pacific.

“This is also good preparation for them for the Cook Islands Games as well, so it’s very good timing,” Kajer said.

The championships will be played at the Fiji Sports Council Tennis Courts and at the Northern Club in Lautoka.