Empty cupboards to full hearts - Tonga's remarkable road to Glasgow

Empty cupboards to full hearts - Tonga's remarkable road to GlasgowImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Tonga players emerge on to court at the 2023 Netball World CupBySophia Hartley, BBC Sport journalist in Glasgow and John Skilbeck, BBC Sport senior journalistPublished3 minutes agoNo team. No coach. No training facilities.No problem.When Salote Sisifa became CEO of Tonga Netball in 2014, she had a blank canvas. Some would call it an empty cupboard.Twelve years and much upheaval later, the Pacific Islanders are ranked eighth in the world. For context, that's just behind Wales and ahead of Scotland and Northern Ireland.Tonga launch their first Commonwealth Games netball campaign on Saturday in Glasgow when they face Australia, the world's preeminent team.Their story is remarkable. It tells of how TV anchor Sisifa went from reading the news to making the news, changing her country's sporting future.It takes in national crises that include a 2022 volcanic eruption of quite staggering force, the destructive tsunami that followed, and the arrival of Covid-19 - almost two years after most of the world was first hit - to hamper relief efforts.Sisifa said she would resign if she failed as CEO. She's still firmly at the helm.Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Coach Jaqua Pori-Makea-Simpson (pictured) has helped CEO Salote Sisifa guide Tonga on their ascent of the world gameTonga consists of more than 170 islands and is located in the South Pacific.It is about 2,600 miles from Melbourne, Australia, and its population of 105,000 could almost squeeze into the stands of the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground.The islands are home to a national netball team who have nailed down a top 10 world ranking for the past four years, but it took a meteoric rise to reach this position.Sisifa and head coach Jaqua Pori-Makea-Simpson have travelled thousands of miles to recruit players, securing their star shooter thanks to a persuasive grandma.They still face...