2019 Pacific Games

The officers represented Samoa in the sports of Badminton, Rugby League, Touch Rugby, Tennis, Soccer and assistant coach for the women’s volleyball team.

Their overall performances by winning silver and bronze medals in their respective sports is an illustration of their commitment, dedication and hard work.

SPS has invested in these officers by allowing them to compete and fully focus on their trainings and preparations leading up to the games.

Photo supplied

The 2015 Pacific Games Mixed Team silver medalists completed a hat-trick in 2019 to win the gold medal in the Mixed Team Division for complete dominance of this week’s touch rugby competition.

They have successfully defended their Men’s and Women’s titles from the 2015 Games with the win in Mixed Teams completing their dominance.

They did so in the deciding clash with Samoa, who were defending Mixed Team champions from the 2015 Pacific Games, though they trailed at the end of the first half.

The first gold was won by Faustina Niu Sila Opeloge in the Women -84 kg category winning over Meteng Wak of Papua New Guinea who got silver and Perina Fritz who won the bronze medal.

Samoa’s Koale Junior Tasi Taala won gold in the Men -120kg category; silver went to Telupe Iosefa of Tuvalu and Bronze to Tavita Lipine also of Samoa.

In the Men +120 kg category, Oliva Siusega Kirisome of Samoa won gold; the silver medal went to Vagi Henry of Papua New Guinea and the bronze medal to Julien Moala of New Caledonia.

The crowd were on their feet, cheering,  as Samoa’s Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi presented her gold medal in the 69-75kg women’s middleweight after she defeated Tahiti’s Heiura Nena.

The daughter of Faiaimoa and Galuafi Loia from the villages of Siumu, Saaga and Lalomanu, was the only Samoan woman in the finals.

Fiji will play the Cook Islands for the bronze medal at St Joseph's Field, Faleata.

Today’s semi finals saw PNG convincingly defeating Fiji 8-4 even though the Fijians showed a lot of prospect at a 3-3 draw at halftime.

The host country also finished strong with a 9-5 victory over the Cook Islands.

At the end of the two days of mixed team elimination, PNG tops the charts with Samoa in second place, Cook Islands in third and Fiji in fourth.

The four-day event has been staged at Don Bosco Hall, Salelologa, with finals happening on Friday.

For 19-year-old Solomon Islands’ Pemberton Lele, his progress to the finals has been about building skills. He is the only member from his team to make it to the finals, following a toe-to-toe fight against Elia Rokobuli from Fiji in the 60kg lightweight event.

“I have learnt to fight strong and new skills from other boxers I have fought and seen in the last few days,” he said ahead of his final.

In the men’s up to120kg division, Lipine lifted first 300kg in the squat, breaking the record, and then immediately lifted 320kg to raise the record higher.

But it was Nauru, a powerlifting powerhouse, had the biggest gold haul of the day at Gym 1, Faleata Sports Complex, winning four golds in the men's competition.

Nauru (Nitram Dagagio) won gold in the under 74kg, with Papua New Guinea winning silver and Kiribati bronze.

In the 83kg category, Nauru also took gold and silver, with Tahiti winning bronze.

In a thrilling contest at Apia Park Stadium, Tabakaucoro was victorious in 20.87 seconds, inches ahead of Dodson who finished in 20.91 seconds. Papua New Guinea’s Theo Piniau snatched bronze in 21.70 seconds.

Both Tabakaucoro and Dodson fell after crossing the finish line, sending the medics out onto the field.

The Fijian admitted he was feeling very sore after the competition. “I expected to finish strong but not to fall over like that, but it just shows the level of competition here,” Tabakaucoro told the Pacific Games News Service.

Cook Islands booked a place in the final by defeating Papua New Guinea 58-31 at the Multisport Centre, Faleata, urged on by their boisterous fans.

“This is great for Cook Island netball. Last time we were in a gold medal match was 1991. We have a huge support base, both here and at home,” said coach Suzanne Evans.

Both teams entered the game undefeated from pool matches. Cook Islands took the lead and kept PNG goaled for the first four minutes.

There were a total of 33 medals including 16 gold, 6 silver and 11 bronze medals in competition of the Pacific Games.

In competition for the Oceania Championship, there were another 16 gold, 5 silver and 3 bronze medals.

Lifters hauled in another 24 medals including 12 gold, 7 silver and 5 bronze in the Commonwealth Championship.

In addition to the medals haul, the weightlifters broke Oceania and Commonwealth records.

The competitions were run simultaneously.