Iliesa Tora
RNZ Pacific senior sports journalist
Nauru has a
second medal at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, adding to
the Pacific Islands medal haul at the
event.
Femily-Crystie Notte, 17, claimed a bronze
medal on Tuesday night in the women’s 63kg category in
weightlifting.
Notte lifted 100kg in the snatch and
116 in the clean-and-jerk.
The gold went to Canada’s
Maude Charron with a Games record total of 232kg, while
England’s Sarah Davies Smale took silver.
The top four
lifters all surpassed the previous Commonwealth Games
record.
“Since joining the Commonwealth Games in 1990,
Naoero has proudly upheld a tradition of winning medals on
the Commonwealth stage,” the Naoero Weightlifting Federation
wrote in a Facebook post.
Notte ensured that this
proud legacy continues, it added.
All the Pacific
Island medals have so far come in weightlifting: a silver to
Samoa, a bronze to PNG and two bronze medals to
Nauru.
Athletics
No Pacific runner has been
able to get past round one in the men’s 400m or
800m.
Papua New Guinea’s William Camilus Peka ran a
personal best time of 49.88s in Heat one of the men’s 400m,
finishing seventh in the field of eight.
Fiji’s Howard
Tapuaiga Siila ran a season’s best time of 55.96 seconds in
heat two, while he was still 9.41 seconds behind the slowest
qualifier.
The PNG pair of Adolf Kauba, who ran 50.06s
in Heat 5 to finish seventh, and Daniel Baul, in Heat 6 in a
time of 49.34s to finish fifth, were also in
action.
Boxing
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Pacific boxers have fallen at
the quarterfinal stage in a number of events
overnight.
PNG’s Flora Loga was beaten in her 65kg
quarterfinal by Scotland’s Caitlin Rainey when the referee
stopped the fight in the second round. She was behind on all
five judges scorecards at that time.
Niue’s Karen Te
Ruki Pasene, lost on unanimous points decision to Northern
Ireland’s Kaci Rock, also in the women’s 65kg division,
suffering three knockdowns in the process.
In the
men’s 90kg, Niue’s Duken Holo Tutakitoa-Williams, who was
favoured to win a medal, lost his quarterfinal to Welshman
Connor Williams.
There might be medal prospects in
Fiji’s Jasmine Daunakamakama, who is apprearing in the
women’s 57kg quarterfinal against Sri Lanka’s Keshani
Hansika on Wednesday night, and Samoan duo Michael Seko in
the men’s 90kg and Marion Ah Tong in the men’s
70kg.
If the three make it past the quarterfinals and
into the semifinals, they will be automatic qualifiers for
bronze medals.
Basketball
Tonga women’s team
lost 21-12 to Uganda in the repecharge to qualify for the
semifinals.
Leading Tonga’s campaign, where they won
three and lost two of their pool matches, were the United
States of America’s Finau sisters, Lesila and
Mele.
The Tongans beat hosts Scotland 12-10, Papua New
Guinea 12-10 and Singapore 14-10.
They lost 21-8 to
New Zealand and 21-4 to England before their semifinal
play-off clash against Uganda.
Tonga’s 3×3 women
basketball team had the Finau sisters plus Ana-Rachael Enari
and Selai Niu.
“It’s more than just a match,” Mele
Finau told the Commonwealth Games media in
Glasgow.
She said the opportunity to represent Tonga
at the Commonwealth Games alongside her sister carried
special meaning following the death of their
father.
“We haven’t played together since high school,
so I’m about to get emotional,” she said.
“It’s so
amazing, especially since our dad passed. This is the main
reason why we are doing this, representing him and
representing the country.”
Bowls
In the men’s
pairs event, the Niue pair of Tifaga Tupuiliu and Keith
Papani lost to Wales 2-0 in their game.
Cook Islands
Epii Poila and Jason Lindsay took the India team to the wire
in their clash, winning the first set 5-2 but then dropping
the second 6-5. The game went into tie-break, with India
winning 1-0 to take the game home.
In the women’s
singles competition, Catherine Papani lost to Guernsey’s Ali
Merren 2-0.
But Cook Islands Emily Jim proved too
tactical for Malta’s Connie-Leigh Rixon, winning both sets
5-4, 9-6.
England’s Sam Tolchard, who had lost to
Fiji’s Rajnesh Prasad in his opening game in the men’s
singles, took home the gold medal with a 2-0 win over
Malaysia’s Izzat Shameer Dzulkeple, while the English women
pair of Amy Pharaoh and Sian Honnor won gold in the women’s
double, also defeating Malaysia in the
process.
Swimming
Cook Islands swimmer Jacob
Story finished eighth in the men’s 200m breaststroke
final.
The 18-year-old Story clocked a time of two
minutes and 14.48 seconds, finishing last of the finalists
but swimming half a second faster than his qualification
time.
The gold went to Filip Nowacki, claiming
Jersey’s first-ever Commonwealth Games gold
medal.
Also in the pool, Fiji’s Anahira McCutcheon
qualified for the semifinal of the women’s 50m freestyle but
not the final.
She clocked 25.45s in heat
eight.
Nafanua Hamilton of Samoa finished fourth in
her heat of the women’s 200m individual medley, in a time of
2 minutes 25.37s.
PNG’s Josh Tarere was fourth in the
men’s 50m butterfly heats with a time of 27.05s, while
Fiji’s Reuben Taylor finished fourth in his heat in 26.18s,
and PNG’s Thomas Chen eighth with a time of 26.68s in the
same heat.
Tonga’s Finau Ohuafi was fith in his pool
in 25.60s, Johann Stickland of Samoa second in his heat in
24.91s, while Fiji’s Hansel McCaig recorded a time of 25s
flat to finish fifth in his heat.
Fijian David Young
missed out of qualifying for the final rounds by .03
seconds, stopping the clock at 24.28s, just outside
England’s Matthew Hamilton, who qualified in
24.25s.
The PNG trio of Jhnayali Tokome-Garap, Roxanne
Kirarock and Joanna Chen finished second to fourth in their
heat of the women’s 50m freestyle, while Tonga’s Vaoahi Afu
finished second in her heat.
But all four did not make
it into the semifinals.
Meanwhile, the Malolo Swimming
Club have congratulated their two swimmers representing
Tonga, Vaoahi Afu and Finau Ohuafi, on their
performances.
The club said Afu recorded a personal
best time of 29.43s in the women’s 50m freestyle, while
finishing second in her heat.
Ohuafi, finished off
fifth in his men’s 50m Butterfly race.
“Finau
delivered another strong performance in a quality
international field, capping off a successful Commonwealth
Games campaign that included an outstanding personal best in
the men’s 50m freestyle earlier in the competition,” the
club said in a statement.
“Congratulations to both
athletes for proudly representing Tonga Aquatics, and Team
Tonga on the Commonwealth Games stage.
“Your
commitment, discipline, and determination continue to
inspire the next generation of swimmers.”
Both, like
other Tongan swimmers, train in the open sea back home in
Nuku’alofa as the country does not have a proper swimming
pool where the swimmers can train and compete
in.
Weightlifting
Nauru’s Marcinary Cook
finished ninth in the men’s 88kg, with a total lift of
290kg. He lifted 130kg in the snatch and 160kg in the clean
and jerk.
New Zealand’s Olivia Shalom Selemaia, who
has Pasifika heritage, did not qualify when she competed in
the women’s 69kg.
Samoa’s Emmnauel Shalom Palota
Ulimasao is set to compete in the men’s 94kg on Friday
morning.
Australia’s Fiji-born lifter Eileen Floanna
Maria Cikamatana is also scheduled to compete on Friday in
the women’s 86kg, in a field that also includes Samoa’s
Sefulu Seuao, Vanuatu’s Ajah Pritchard Lolo and New Zealand
Fijian Litia Sipola Nacagilevu.
The competition
continues until 2 August.
Australia leads the medal
tally with a total haul of 80 medals at the moment, which is
made up of 35 gold, 18 silver and 27 bronze.
Canada
has replaced England at number two with 13 gold, 10 silver
and 12 bronze, while England sits third with 10 gold, 18
silver and 15 bronze.
New Zealand are eighth, with
three gold, seven silver and three bronze to their
name.
Samoa is currently 17, Nauru at 21 and PNG at
22.
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