Lydia Panapasa (born 14 September 2000) is a Fijian netball player and former national shot putter who plays for

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

in the position of goal shooter. She was included in the Fijian squad for the

2019 Netball World Cup The 2019 Netball World Cup (also known as the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th edition of the INF Netball World Cup. It was held from 12–21 July 2019 at the Liverpool Arena in Liverpool, England with matches ...

which was also her maiden appearance at a Netball World Cup.

Career

Lydia initially pursued her career in athletics similar to her mother and notably claimed a gold medal at the 2017 Coca-Cola Games in shot put event. She then switched to netball and emerged from youth level after representing the national U21 netball team at the

2017 Netball World Youth Cup The Netball World Youth Cup Gaborone 2017 was the eighth staging of the tournament previously (until 2013) known as the World Youth Netball Championships, the premier competition in international netball, contested every four years. The 2017 tou ...

which was held in

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

. In November 2022 she was selected for the team for the 2022

Netball Singapore Nations Cup The Netball Singapore Nations Cup is an annual netball tournament organised and hosted by Netball Singapore. The inaugural tournament was played in 2006 and was won by Singapore. The host nation is the tournament's most successful team, winning ...

Personal life

She was born in a family with a rich sporting background. Her mother Salote Noulivou Panapasa was a track and field athlete as well as a national basketball player. Her uncle

Ilisoni Taoba Ilisoni Vonomateiratu is a professional rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams ...

was a rugby union player. Her cousin

Akapusi Qera Akapusi Qera (born 24 April 1984) is a Fijian professional rugby union player. A Flanker or No.8. He is married to wife Phillipha Talei and together they have four children. Qera is also from a Christian sporting family; his father was an inte ...

was also a rugby union player who formerly captained the national side. Her aunt Laijipa Naulivou was a former national field hockey player.

References

2000 births Living people Fijian netball players Fijian female shot putters 2019 Netball World Cup players Fijian people of Rotuman descent 2023 Netball World Cup players {{Fiji-netball-bio-stub