By Tupou Vaipulu Jr
HM Queen Nanasipau’u received the Tongan National Netball team, the Tala, at the Royal Palace in Nuku’alofa today, 28 October, ahead of their first home netball game against the Australian Pathway team this week.
The Tala, will hold their first match in Tonga at the Tonga High Stadium on 31 October, followed by two more games on November 1 and 3. The Australian Pathway team are scheduled to arrive in Tonga this Thursday, 30 October.
The games are part of this year's celebrations for the 150th anniversary of Tonga’s Constitution. It was named by the Queen as ‘the Tala-Tutone tour’, a tribute to the late Queen Salote Tupou III.
The Queen wished the Tala good luck on their preparations for the games ahead.
The tour is funded by the Tongan Government with support from the Australia through PacificAus Sports in partnership with the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
