In his first match he out played Gregory Jacobe from Vanuatu 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(4) and Rafael Jones from Northern Marianas 6-2, 6-1 in his second outing.
Paeni is teaming up with other top tennis players from Fiji, PNG, Tuvalu and Vanuatu representing the West Pacific team.
The other two teams are from the East Pacific (Cook Islands, Samoa, American Samoa,Tonga) and North Pacific (Guam, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Saipan).
Paeni in an email to star sport yesterday said that the tournament this year looked to be very tough as the New Caledonians would also be competing.
New Caledonia player Julien Delaplane is the tournament’s top seed and favourite.
“It will be a tough tournament but I’m happy that I have started off positively and I’m on the right track”, the young tennis star said.
Paeni added that today he would be playing his next two pool matches against Chris Sami from American Samoa and Alex Beddoes from Cook Islands.
“I’m confident of beating my opponents but I respect them as well”, he said.
Apart from Paeni, three other local tennis females are also representing the West Pacific team.
They are Amanda Korinihona (Under-18), Nella Dausabea and Vinda Teally (Under-12).
Young tennis queens Amanda and Nella won their first match but lost their second.
Vinda on the other hand played only one match with an impressive win.
Meanwhile, Paeni will be teaming up with Fijian top seed Christopher Hargrove in the Under-18 men’s double.
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