PORT MORESBY, July 7 – Vanuatu beat Federated States of Micronesia 46-0 on Tuesday to set a Pacific Games record score and keep alive their hopes of qualifying from Pool A of the Port Moresby 2015 soccer tournament.Vanuatu’s huge win breaks the record set on Sunday when Fiji beat Micronesia 38-0.
Combined with a 30-0 defeat to Tahiti in their opening match, it means Micronesia have conceded a total of 114 goals in the tournament and scored none. An unlikely scoreline of 30-0 was the minimum requirement for Vanuatu, with Pool A likely to be decided on goal difference, and they looked on course for the target from kick-off. The team ranked 200th in the world by Fifa were 24-0 ahead at half-time, three better than Fiji’s score at the same stage, and Micronesia wilted further in the second half. Vanuatu’s top scorer, with 16 goals, was Jean Kaltack. Vanuatu may still be eliminated from Pool A if Tahiti and Fiji draw their match at 14:00 on Tuesday, but a win for either side would see them through. Pacific Games News Service
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PORT MORESBY, July 6 – Jenly Tegu Wini (SOL) won all three gold medals in the women’s 58kg class in weightlifting at Port Moresby 2015 at the PNG Power Dome on Monday.
Wini lifted a winning weight of 83kg in snatch and an impressive 110kg in clean and jerk. With a total lift of 193kg, Wini also bagged the overall women’s title in that catergory. Tia-Clair Toomey (AUS) won the silver medal in all three events while Mathlyn Robert (MHL) took all three bronze medals. Weightlifting continues with the women’s 69kg and 75kg weight classes and the men’s 85kg and 94kg divisions at the PNG Power Dome on Tuesday. Games News Services PORT MORESBY, July 6 – Tahiti has won the men’s and women’s team table tennis gold medals at the Port Moresby 2015 Pacific Games, defending both titles and ensuring continued dominance over its Pacific rivals.
In a repeat of Noumea 2011, Tahiti matched up with their New Caledonian rivals in both team finals at the Caritas Technical Secondary School. The Tahitian men had a relatively easy time of it, winning five matches to one, while the women had to battle back from a 1-3 deficit to take the match 5-3. Tahiti women’s coach Mathieu Darrou (TAH) was full of praise for his players’ ability to get back into the match. “The girls played as a team and listened to all my advice. They lost the first two games but had high hopes of completing the match, which they did, and came out champions,” he said. ”It was very difficult. The New Caledonians were very, very strong at the start. They took a 3-1 lead and my players had to be very strong mentally to win 5-3. It was so beautiful.” Tahiti men’s head coach Vetea Mollon (TAH) said his players were just too strong for New Caledonia. ”We prepared for two years and the results tonight are the fruits of our labour,” he said. “We can say we are the best table tennis [nation] in the Pacific.” Now the Tahiti team’s focus moves to the individual events and Darrou said the team is confident they can continue their strong run. “We have a young team and the spirit is very high at the moment, we hope to complete these Games with many more gold medals,” he said. Vanuatu won both bronze medals on offer, beating Fiji 5-2 in both men’s and women’s events. Allan Lam (VAN) was thrilled with his bronze medal. “I’m happy, its my first time at the Pacific Games and I won a medal.” Sources: Games News Service PORT MORESBY, July 6 – Tahiti has claimed a clean sweep of gold medals on day one of Port Moresby 2015 Pacific Games va’a competition at the Naval Base on Monday.
Tahiti was defending titles in four events on Monday and was expected to be pushed by New Caledonia in each, but when the paddles hit the water, New Caledonia could only challenge in one. The men’s V6-500m was the closest result of the day with Tahiti beating New Caledonia by just .06 seconds, Wallis and Futuna claimed bronze. Papua New Guinea won its only va’a medal of the day, a silver, in the women’s V6-500m, while Wallis and Futuna won its second bronze. After the women’s V6-500m final Tahiti team captain Utiutirei Flores (TAH) praised her team’s gold medal performance. “I am very happy with the win, it was a very good team effort,” she said. Tahiti continued its dominance in the longer events. In the men’s V6-1500m Tahiti had to fend off a late challenge from the Cook Islands for gold with Guam following the pair across the line to take bronze. The Cook Islands took its second va’a silver of the day behind Tahiti in the women’s V6-1500m. Fiji took bronze. Tuesday will see the sprint events on the water with gold medals being decided in men’s and women’s V1-500m and V12-500m. GNS lo/jf Pacific Games Media PORT MORESBY, July 6 – New Caledonia comfortably beat Papua New Guinea 4-0 on the first day of men’s team squash at the Port Moresby Racket Club on Monday.
Madako Suari Junior (PNG) lost to Nicholas Massenet (NCL) in the opening match. Suari, who recently recovered from injury, put up a spirited fight to take the second set but struggled in the fourth, going down 3-1. Despite the loss, Suari was happy with his performance. “I feel good. It’s just the first game, and hopefully we play them (New Caledonia) again on Thursday. I had an oblique (muscle) pull but I’m recovering and feeling better. Despite the injury I think I played well,” he said. “New Caledonia is a tough team to compete against. They trained hard for this. It’s not an easy match to play but I am looking forward to the next round.” PNG squash coach Marc Forster (AUS) was satisfied with Suari’s performance and believes he can step up in his next match. “It’s just the first day, but I think it was good. Junior (Suari) controlled the game, but ran out a little bit on fitness. He’s just got to learn when he’s getting in to that stage to attack the ball a little bit more and not try to defend,” Forster said. “The last set I think Junior was controlling the game. He just needs to use his speed to accelerate on to the attacking ball and not just use his speed to accelerate on the defensive ball.” Massenet was satisfied with the victory, and especially winning the first match for New Caledonia. “It’s never easy, the first match, especially against the organising country. So it was a bit hard to get into the match, but I am happy with the outcome,” he said. In the other men’s matches, Fiji beat Tahiti 4-0. GNS fg/kd Pacific Games Media PORT MORESBY, July 6 – Phillipa Malone (AUS) has won two out of three gold medals in the women’s -63kg category at the Port Moresby 2015 Pacific Games at PNG Power Dome on Monday night.
Malone’s total of 188kg was enough to see off Papua New Guinea’s Sandra Ako (183kg) and Australian teammate Kanna Elliot (181kg) for overall gold, and she also took the snatch gold with a lift of 86kg. Elliot (83kg) and Ako (80kg) took silver and bronze in the snatch. In the clean and jerk, Ako lifted 103kg to win gold ahead of Malone (102kg) and Elliot (98kg). “It feels so awesome and it is a huge honour to be invited to participate in the Pacific Games,” Malone said afterwards. “It’s a massive privilege to be here and to be competing alongside other athletes from the Pacific. The sporting venue is great, we feel comfortable and everything is great.” Meanwhile the 21-year-old Ako was thrilled to win a gold medal in front of a home crowd. “This is the first time for me to win a gold medal for my country Papua New Guinea and I am so proud,” Ako said. “It was my first time to participate at the lighter bodyweight which I did very well. I want to thank all my family, especially my dad and aunty.” “I wish my grandparents were here to support me.” Ako also hoped her performance would inspire the youth of Papua New Guinea to get involved in the sport. “I would like to encourage all upcoming weightlifters to focus and to be mentally fit,” Ako said. “This sport of weightlifting is not an easy sport, it’s a mind game. Lifters have to fight and must be mentally strong to do well.” Both Australia and Papua New Guinea will be hoping for more gold on Tuesday and Wednesday, the final two days of weightlifting at Port Moresby 2015. GNS mj/pg Pacific Games Media PORT MORESBY, July 6 – Four Pacific Games records fell on the first night of the Port Moresby 2015 Pacific Games swimming competition at BSP Arena, with New Caledonia, Tahiti and Papua New Guinea dominating the medal tally.
In the evening’s opening race Ryan Pini (PNG) claimed gold in his first major competitive swim on home soil, winning the men’s 50m backstroke in 26.14 seconds. Teiki Dupont (TAH) claimed silver while Julien-Pierre Goyetche (NCL) finished third. Pini, who has come out of retirement aged 33 for one last Games, admitted he felt the weight of a nation’s expectation on his shoulders going into the event. “The last two years [preparing for this] have probably been one of my toughest challenges,” he said. “It has been a real struggle. I returned to PNG but we didn’t have a 50m pool until about a month ago. It has been a challenge but it has definitely been worthwhile so that my fans can come and see what I do best.” “The Olympics and Commonwealth Games have been huge events in my life, but swimming at home is way up there.” Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Peter O’Neill presented Pini with his medal to rousing applause from the sell-out crowd. The night’s largest medal haul went to New Caledonia, whose swimmers collected three golds, a silver, and three bronze medals. Tahiti were not far behind with two gold medals, two silvers and a bronze. Sixteen-year-old Emma Terebo claimed New Caledonia’s first gold of the night in the women’s 100m freestyle, shaving three seconds off her qualifying time to win in 57.46 seconds. Fiji picked up silver and bronze courtesy of Matelita Buadromo and Caroline Puamau respectively. “I am very happy about this win, regardless of my time,” Terebo said. “I am eager to see what will come next for me at these Games, I’m flying.” Tahiti dominated the men’s 200m freestyle with Rahiti De Vos (TAH) snatching gold in 1 minute, 51.87 seconds ahead of countryman Hugo Lambert. New Caledonia’s Jeremie Dufourmantelle claimed bronze. “I’m really pleased with my race time,” De Vos said. “It has been a while since I improved my time and, even, better, I won.” New Caledonia’s golden girl in the pool, Lara Grangeon, set a new Pacific Games record in the women’s 400m individual medley. The 23-year-old swam 4:47.07 in the final, shaving two seconds off the event record she had set in the morning’s qualifying heats. She collected a second gold medal with the New Caledonia team in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay. Grangeon, who won 20 medals, including 16 golds, at the Noumea 2011 Pacific Games, has entered 11 more events at Port Moresby 2015. “I’m getting ready for the world championships in less than a month so this is my preparation,” she said. In the men’s 100m breaststroke all three medallists broke the Pacific Games record for the event, which had been set at 1:04.62 in the morning’s heats by Benjamin Schulte (GUM). Despite being the pace-setter, Schulte had to settle for silver in the final, after Amini Fonua (TON) swam to gold in a new record time of 1:02.95. Schulte took silver in 1:03.42 and Tahiti’s Rainui Teriipaia-Rentier claimed bronze with a time of 1:03.46. “I haven’t been that fast in years, I just got back into the water two months ago so to do that was a little bit unexpected, but excellent,” Fonua said. New Caledonia edged Fiji to take gold in the women’s 4x100m freestyle, setting a new Pacific Games record of 3:57.23, less than a second ahead of Fiji, who also bettered the previous record. Papua New Guinea finished third of the three competing nations. In the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay Tahiti, who qualified third fastest, claimed gold and set a new Pacific Games record of 3:25.02, improving the previous best time by more than six seconds. Silver medallists New Caledonia and bronze medallists Papua New Guinea also both beat the previous record. Cheered on by a boisterous home crowd Pini almost overhauled New Caledonia’s Emmanuel Limozin on the final leg but finished less than half a second behind. “You really can [hear the cheering from the water] and it pushes you hard all the way, so kudos to the supporters out there,” Pini said. GNS jl/jn/ic/jc/jf Pacific Games Media PORT MORESBY, July 6 – Meagen Gunemba (PNG) scored a hat-trick as Papua New Guinea’s women’s soccer team put on a classy performance to beat Fiji 5-1 at Bisini Grounds on Monday.
It was a one-sided affair as the three-time Pacific Games gold medallists dominated the first half, with Gunemba finding the net with a penalty on 18 minutes. Five minutes before half-time, Gunemba chipped in a sneaky left footer and found the back of the net to leave Fiji’s goalkeeper Matelita Vuakoso stunned. In the second half, the crowd increased in numbers and this inspired the women in red, black and gold to increase their speed and skilful play. The petite Gunemba, from Morobe province, scored again nine minutes into the second half to complete her hat-trick. A superb left-footed strike from Ramona Padio (PNG) made the score 4-0, before striker Fatima Rama (PNG) brought the crowd to their feet again with the fifth goal of the game. The persistent young Fijian side grabbed a consolation goal through Sonali Rao (FIJ) 10 minutes from time. “Thank you to all my supporters and my teammates – because of them I scored all three goals. I’m feeling proud because we won in our own country in front of our fans,” said hat-trick hero Gunemba. “My family is not here watching me but they are all together watching me on TV.” PNG captain Deslyn Siniu told the Games News Service she was “proud” of the team’s performance. “I think the girls were nervous in the first half, because of the first time performing here, but I think they did a really good job. I am very proud of the girls,” Siniu said. PNG coach Gary Phillips (AUS) told GNS there was room for improvement from his team. “There’s a lot of expectation on this team. The first half was nowhere near the level that we can play,” said Phillips. “The second half we started to play a little better – our combination play and passing improved, but it was very difficult conditions. It was very windy, very bumpy, but in the second half we started to show signs of what we can do.” GNS ee/kd Pacific Games Media TAHITIANS DOMINATE FIRST DAY OF SHOOTING
PORT MORESBY, July 6 – Tahitians Marie-Louise Normand and Gabriel Lan San won double individual gold on the first day of shooting at the Port Moresby 2015 Pacific Games on Monday, with Lan San grabbing a team gold as well. Normand shot a total of 181.3 in the women’s 10m air pistol at June Valley Shooting Range to finish well clear of Papua New Guinea’s Tania Mairi (173.9) in second with Amalia Duenas from Guam taking bronze with a total of 154.3. Gabriel Lan San then won the men’s 10m air pistol event ahead of two Norfolk Island marksmen, Kevin Coulter, who took silver, and Douglas Creek, who bagged bronze. In the women’s team event, Guam won gold through Duenas, Hope Delos Reya and Maria Theresa Cenzon with a tally of 962 while Mairi and teammates Winifred Sauna and Carmelita Donald won silver for Papua New Guinea (909). No bronze medal was awarded as only Guam and PNG had enough competitors to meet the team criteria. The men’s team event was won by Tahiti, giving Lan San a second gold medal for the day, while Fiji won silver and PNG bronze. Shooting continues at the June Valley venue on Tuesday with two events – the women’s 25m pistol and the mixed 25m pistol. GNS pg Pacific Games Media PORT MORESBY, July 6 – Gold medals in five sports will be decided on Tuesday July 7 at the Port Moresby 2015 Pacific Games – swimming, touch football, va’a, weightlifting and shooting.
At the BSP Arena, Lara Grangeon (NCL), who won two gold medals on Monday night, will continue her podium assault in the women’s 200m breaststroke and 200m freestyle while local legend Ryan Pini (PNG), who won gold and bronze on the first night of swimming, is entered in the 100m butterfly and will also race in the PNG men’s 4x200m freestyle relay. Grangeon won an incredible 16 gold medals – and 20 medals in all – at Noumea 2011, but rivals will appreciate her generosity in only entering 14 events here in Port Moresby. In touch football, the men’s and women’s action comes to a head at the Bisini Grounds venue with semifinals starting the day at 09:00. The women’s gold medal game begins at 14:00 with the men’s final scheduled for 15:00. It will be a quick turnaround for some of the players though, as the three-day mixed touch football competition begins on Wednesday. Va’a (outrigger canoe) also continues with four more races at the Lancron Naval Base venue. The men’s and women’s V1 (one person) 500m sprint heats begin at 09:00 and the day finishes with the fast and furious action of the men’s and women’s V12 500m events. Finals are every 15 minutes from 14:00. Competition in weightlifting is gradually making its way up to the heavier divisions at the aptly named PNG Power Dome. Tuesday will see snatch, clean and jerk and total medals decided in women’s -69kg and -75kg classes as well as the men’s -85kg and -94kg categories. The women’s 25m pistol and mixed 25m pistol events are the two gold medals to be decided at the June Valley Shooting Range’s indoor venue on Tuesday, but Tahiti will be looking to continue its good start having won three of four gold medals on Monday. For information about tickets call the Pacific Games ticket hotline on 180 2015 or download the ticket purchasing guide. GNS pg SOurce: Pacific Games Media |
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