Margaret Satupai sets up for her silver medal-winning hammer throw

By Renate Rivers 

Men’s basketball continues to disappoint
The men’s basketball team were routed last night in the quarter final by a lacklustre New Caledonian side which exploited every opportunity to score in the face of a Samoan team that is clearly not working together.
The New Caledonians made less mistakes and fought for the ball consistently whereas Samoa was lacking in the basics such as failing to go for rebounds and missing free throws.

Samoa vs New Caledonia

New Caledonia outscored Samoa in every quarter: 19-14 in the first, 18-9 in the second, 18 to 13 in the third and 15 to 9 in the fourth.

Three players contributed 30 points to the final score, Captain George Tuia and Jonathan Fesolai were top scorers for Samoa on 10 and 11 baskets, followed closely by Meki Purcell on 9.

The final score was 72-47, with New Caledonia progressing to the semi-finals against Fiji next week. Samoa will travel to Pondimie to play in the ranking games.

Hammer
Margaret Satupai won silver for Samoa in the hammer-throw event yesterday despite the rainy and chilly conditions. Competing against three New Caledonians (Elise Takosi, Leina Durand, Losa Fakete), Tongan Ana Pouhila, Taatia Riino of Kiribati and Genie Gerardo of Guam, Margaret was able to post a best throw of 48m to secure second placing behind Elise Takosi who registered 50m to take top ranking.

Shaka Sola did not compete in the men’s hammer-throw, but Emanuele Fuamatu went in against three New Caledonians in the final but did not secure a medal.

Boxing
Two more medals in the bag for Samoa in the boxing finals last night where Petelo Matagi overcame his Nauruan counterpart to win his 75kg weight division’s top placing and Filimaua Hala secured second place against a New Caledonian.

In red, Petelo Matagi dodges his opponent's jab

Petelo’s opponent Santana Halstead withdrew before the end of the fight due to excessive points notched up for the Samoan. Bronze for this division went to Etu Iorangi of the Cook Islands.
Unfortunately a stiff-looking Filimaua Hala lost to New Caledonian Nicolas Dion 19-31 in the 81kg final. Hala, who had been a dominating force in the competition, did not seem as relaxed as in previous bouts, conceding the first two rounds relatively easily before coming back in the final round but unable to catch up to the New Caledonian. Bronze of this division went to Tongan Sosefo Falekaono.

Other results
The Golf team brought home a bronze medal yesterday in the Women’s Team tournament after a tough week of mixed results. The Samoa squash team also won a bronze in the Men’s Team Tournament yesterday.

Adding to the growing medals, the Va’a team won bronze in their 30km V6 Marathon race yesterday, coming behind New Caledonia and Tahiti.

Tennis was rained out after only two hours of play yesterday

V6 Men's Outrigger team in action

y at the Lhuillier Complex in Ouen Toro. The women’s doubles duo Kim and Steffi Carruthers beat the Fijian team 7-5 and 6-1 but Kim lost to New Caledonian Elodie Rogge 6-0, 6-2 in her singles game.

The men’s singles produced two wins and a loss with Marvin Soonalole defeating Jerome Rovo of Vanuatu 7-6, 6-2 and Juan Langton despatching Lorenzo Pieda, also of Vanuatu, 6-3, 6-1. Reinsford Penn succumbed to Tahitian Landry Lee-Tham 6-2, 6-3.

The women’s volleyball team lost to Tahiti in straight games last night in a disappointing turn of events for the girls. Both teams unbeaten going in to the game, Samoa’s defense was impressive in the face of powerful spikes from Tahiti, but they were not aggressive enough on the offensive and failed to capitalise on good service and set-ups. In the face of creative Tahitian combinations, our girls lacked flamboyance and the element of surprise – using the same set ups for spiking over and over again.
The last game was more evenly placed with a point-for-point race to 25, the Samoans giving the Tahitians a taste of their ability to answer powerful spikes, serve long and low and block well. However it was not enough to prolong the game, as Tahiti were too strong and won 25-22.

Samoa has now moved up to 5^th place in the overall medal tally with 28 total medals – 2 Gold, 11 Silver and 15 Bronze medals.

New Caledonia is still in first place with 140 medals in total – 66 Gold, 51 Silver and 23 Bronze.
Tahiti is in second place with 66 medals – 29 Gold, 20 Silver, 17 Bronze.
Fiji is third with 52 total medals – 13 Gold, 16 Silver, 23 Bronze.
Papua New Guinea is at fourth with 34 – 11 Gold, 9 Silver, 14 Bronze.

Samoa’s medals were won in the following disciplines:

Gold – Boxing, Sevens Men

Silver – Athletics (hammer-throw women), Bodybuilding (men), Boxing, Shooting, Golf (men), Sevens Women

Bronze – Bodybuilding (men), Boxing, Shooting, Golf (women), Squash (men), Tennis (men), Tennis (women), Va’a (men).

Share This

About the author

Renate Rivers

Related Posts

Aim for Olympic gold, SPG team told

“The other night, I watched one of our boys walk over to the Papuan, threw the jab, closed his eyes, covered his face and invited the Papuan to beat him up.�? By Tupuola Terry Tavita The returning South Pacific...