A four team netball tournament gets underway in Samoa today with organisers confident of success.
The IFNA sanctioned tournament is to give participating countries Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, Vanuatu and Tonga with Fiji a late withdrawal an opportunity improve their world rankings and try to qualify for next years Commonwealth Games in India.
President of the Samoa Netball Association, Mata Tuatagaloa, says they are disappointed that Fiji has pulled out but it won't affect the tournament.
"They maybe the South Pacific champions but Samoa is ranked higher than them in world rankings because you got the Cooks I think are ranked just below Fiji and the PNG which is a very strong and upcoming team that are moving up the rankings, so I think it's a loss to Fiji in terms of world rankings and also in terms of this is a qualifier for next years Commonwealth (games)."