Tennis Cook Islands junior girls Tekura Tamangaro and Raetea Rongo have defended their U16 doubles title winning gold at the 34th Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in Fiji.

According to Oceania Cook Islands it was a thrilling U16 Girls Doubles final in Lautoka, Fiji as Rongo and Tamangaro battled past Colita Hakena and Irene Jose  of Papua New Guinea with a hard-fought 6-1, 7-5 victory.

“The dynamic Cook Islands duo displayed incredible teamwork and resilience to claim the championship.”

Tennis Cook Islands president Davina Hosking-Ashford says it has been a fantastic week of tennis for Team Cook Islands in Fiji.

“Tremendous effort and congratulations to Raetea Rongo and Tekura Tamangaro for winning the Girls U16 Doubles. Very proud of the girls for taking out the title two years in a row.”

Raetea’s mum Jackie Rongo said they are very proud of both Tekura and Raetea for defending their title.

Speaking to Cook Islands News yesterday, she said Raetea had also competed in the singles match and took silver. She won gold last year.

She said the semi-finals match took a lot out of Raetea.

The U16 singles match saw Papua New Guinea's Colita Hakena deliver a commanding performance in the final, defeating Rongo 6-1, 6-1 to claim the U16 Girls Singles title.

The junior team are in Fiji with Coach Malcolm Kajer and manager Marcelle Rossouw.

The team consists of Raetea Rongo and Tekura Tamangaro in the under 16 Girls division, and Mareko Webb and Luca Rossouw in the under 14 Boys division.

Meanwhile, the competition included around 120 junior players from more than 13 countries across the region competing in a 10-day tournament.