Toea Wisil ignite PNG track and field dominance
Reigning pacific sprint queen, Papua New Guinea’s Toea Wisil has won the 100 metres finals once more at the Pacific Mini Games 2022.
The 34-year-old sprinter clocked a winning time of 11.98 secs, finishing ahead of Isila Apkup and Leonie Beu who came home in 12.07 and 12.13 respectively.
Wisil’s commanding victory then sparked the PNG track and field contingent to dominate in their respective events.
PNG claimed five golds, four silvers and two bronzes at the Oleai Sports Complex in the Northern Mariana Islands.
Scholastica Herman was another gold medallist for Papua New Guinea as she triumphed in the women’s 800m, after finishing in 2:18.26. Estelle Gentilly of French Polynesia came second in 2:25.25, followed by Charlotte Michel of New Caledonia in 2:26.67.
Dilu Goiye topped a Papua New Guinea one-two in the men’s 10,000m as he clinched gold in 33:04.04. It was enough to beat compatriot Siune Kagl who had to settle for silver in 33:20.44, while Simon Charley of Vanuatu bagged bronze in 34:51.53.
Papua New Guinea also won gold in the Men’s discus as Debono Paraka emerged victorious with a throw of 51.02 metres. Paraka defeated Australia’s Jackson Mellor who came second with 38.40m, while Kaota Ribabaiti of Kiribati completed the podium with 35.19m.
Jenly bag 3 Gold medals
Jenly Tegu Wini continues her impressive form, bagging three Gold Medals at the Northern Marianas 2022 Pacific Mini-Games. Jenly bagged the medals from the 55kg snatch, 55kg clean and jerk and the 55kg overall.
Jenly has had an illustrious career in weightlifting; she won the 2013 Oceania Championships in her weight category, the first female weightlifter from the Solomon Islands to do so.
She also competed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, finishing 8th in the women’s 58 kg. She was also the Solomon Islands flagbearer at this event.
Solomon Islands currently sits at 5th place, hauling in 17 medals, all of it coming from weightlifting.
Weightlifting competition continue with golds for Stevick Patris of Palau in the men’s 81 kilogram, Manuila Raobu of Tuvalu in the men’s 73kg, Ruben Katoatau of Kiribati in the men’s 67kg, Jacinta Sumagaysay of Guam in women’s 64kg and Natalie Setiadji of Australia in the women’s 59kg.
Host CNMI competing well in the Games
CNMI secured its third baseball victory in the 2020 Pacific Mini Games on Tuesday by dominating the Solomon Islands, 16-0, at the Francisco “Tan Ko” M. Palacios Baseball Field.
In weightlifting, The NMI’s Leowell Cristobal earned a silver medal in the 2022 Pacific Mini Games on Tuesday with a lift of 125kg in the clean & jerk portion of the men’s 67kg weight class.
Meanwhile, the CNMI National Badminton Team has won one and lost two matches. The CNMI’s debut match was against the powerhouse team of Tahiti which won 5-0 on Monday at the Ada gym.
In the Men’s Singles, Tahiti’s Quentin Bernaix defeated the NMI’s Andreau Galvez, 21-8, 21-8, while Tahiti’s Jenica Lesourd bested the NMI’s Janelle Pangilinan, 21-19, 21-2 in the Women’s Singles.
CNMI showing the rest of the Pacific islands that they are not only hosting but they are here to compete in the games.
Crossing over to tennis, and the Women’s Doubles final match, the CNMI’s Janelle Pangilinan and Jenine Savellano gave it their all to extend the match to three sets, but they were outlasted by Tahiti’s Jessica Lesourd and Mi You, 21-8, 19-21, 21-19.
In the solo matchups, Wallis and Futuna’s Takasi trounced Pangilinan in the Women’s Singles, 21-16, 21-12 while Julien Dauptain outplayed Galvez in the Men’s Singles, 21-11, 21-19.
For the CNMI’s Janelle Pangilinan, just being able to play in a regional competition was an accomplishment in itself. “The CNMI doesn’t have a lot of top-level women players, but we played against Tahiti and it was a good and tough match. We did the best we could do, and hopefully we can play with them again,” Pangilinan said.
“The first day was exciting,” she added. “It was a really different feeling compared to our regular local tournaments, and I would definitely wish it could always be like this. Never stop playing the game that you love.”
Tabaukaucoro defends 100m gold
Pacific’s fastest man Banuve Tabakaucoro has again won the 100m men’s final in the 2022 Pacific Mini Games.
Tabakaucoro defended his title by running a time of 10.56 seconds in the final.
Samoa took home the silver and bronze medal respectively.
Fiji is currently at 12th place in the overall medal tally; with 2 gold, 12 silver and 11 bronze medals.
Two Pacific Mini Games athletes test positive for Covid-19
With around 2,000 people entering the CNMI — many for the very first time — the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp reported that two athletes have tested positive for Covid-19.
Athletes were provided with daily swabs by the COVID-19 Task Force, and are expected to swab daily and report any positive cases to contact tracers.
“We’ve seen a small uptick in [COVID-19] positive cases…so I think that it means for all of us that we should be taking extra precautions to ensure that we personally can stay safe, and that our community stays safe,” said Dr Lily Muldoon, CHCC medical director of public health and emergency medicine physician, on Friday.