PAPUA New Guinea’s top junior tennis player Colita ‘Coco’ Hakena has claimed the title for the 2025 Pacific Oceania Junior Championship in the U16 Girls category.

This happened after the conclusion of the tournament in Fiji last week.

Hakena is a new household name in the Pacific Junior’s competition. This is not the first time Hakena has won a POJC title representing PNG and the West Pacific.

She has dominated over the past years moving from the U12 Girls, U14 and now the U16 Girls singles title.

In the finals in Lautoka, Hakena delivered a commanding performance defeating Cook Islands Raetea Rongo by two sets (6-1, 6-1) to claim the title. It was deemed a confident, composed, and clinical match for the star finishing her last POJC appearance in style.

Meanwhile in the other POJC finals, Guam’s Junhyuk Seo secured the U16 Boys Singles title in an all North-Pacific affair defeating Siwoo Lee of Northern Mariana Islands by two sets (6-1, 6-2).

In the U14 Boys Singles another champion emerged as Camelo Chen of Guam clinched the title over New Caledonia’s Marius Richard with a nail-biting 3-6, 6-3, 11-9 victory. The U14 Girls Singles title was won by American Samoa’s Joelei Ioane capping off an incredible tournament with a commanding 6-2, 6-0 win over Alexandria Chand of Fiji.

Meanwhile in the doubles finals, the U14 Boys title was secured by Camelo Chen (GUM) and Ryan Choi (NMI) over New Caledonia’s duo Marius Richard and Hippolyte Jean I Stichelbaut with a hard-fought victory: 6-3, 7-5.

In the U14 Girls Doubles Final, the Alexandria Amoa and Joelei Ioane of America Samoa delivered an impressive performance, defeating Alexandria Chand (FIJ) and Heata-Nui Ista-Toofa (CAL) with a dominant 6-0, 6-2 scoreline. Their skill and chemistry on the court were undeniable as they clinched the title.

In a dominant performance, Siwoo Lee (NMI) and Junhyuk Seo (GUM) (1) overwhelmed Austen Keni and Seuiama Penn of Samoa with a commanding 6-0, 6-0 victory.

In a thrilling U16 Girls Doubles Final, Cook Islands’ Raetea Rongo and Tekura Tamangaro battled past Colita Hakena and team mate Irene Jose from PNG with a hard-fought 6-1, 7-5 victory. The dynamic Cook Islands duo displayed incredible teamwork and resilience to claim the championship.

The 34^th Pacific Oceania Junior Championships brought together the best junior players from 13 countries across the region for the 10-day competition for the U14 and U16 events and the U12 team events.