Ba Captain Gracious In Defeat
Although Ba failed to make it to the semifinals of the Vodafone Fiji FACT semifinals, their captain Sanaila Waqanicakau was one of the rated goalkeepers of the tournament.
The 30-year-old striker opted for positional switch after first choice goalkeeper Misiwane Narube was ruled out due to injury.
Waqanicakau volunteered to be the goalkeeper but to be named as captain was something unexpected. ‘’Actually I got the shock of my life, being named the captain of the Ba team,’’ he said.
‘’I’m thankful to the management and officials for selecting me to be the captain of the Ba team.
‘’I’ve been playing for Ba for the past three years but this is my first tournament as captain.”
Ba lost to Labasa 3-1 in their final
Group match after securing a win over Nasinu and a draw against Rewa.
Their four points did not book them a spot for the semi-finals. ‘’Hard luck, we cannot do much, we cannot complain about anything now.
‘’After a lapse of three or four years, then I played goalkeeper. I last played goalkeeper when I was in Dreketi.
‘There were a lot of criticisms when I was playing striker and a lot of them knew I could play goalkeeper as well.
‘’We will take the defeat, learn from it and do better next year,’’ the Nativi, Saivou, Ra, native added. Waqanicakau started playing for Ba in 2017 and his first tournament was Inter-District Championship. His younger brothers, Saula Waqa and Junior Balbir Singh, also plays for Ba.
‘’Junior could not attend the tournament due to work commitment,’’ he said.
“Waqa is suspended for a positive drug test at the Battle of Giants tournament.”
Waqanicakau looks forward to the 2021 season
“I told the boys after our game, this isn’t the last tournament. ‘’And as a young side, we will have to learn from this game and then build-up for next year.”