Host PNG rules Pacific Games

Papua New Guinea earned the bragging rights of clinching the Pacific Games’ overall title on home soil when the 15th edition of the quadrennial sporting event ended Saturday at the Sir John Guise Sports Complex.

Tongan representatives wear “See You in Tonga 2019” shirts in the closing ceremony of the XV Pacific Games last Saturday at the Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Tonga will host the Games in Nuku’alofa in 2019. (Pacific Games)

PNG also turned over the baton to Tonga, which will host the Games in Nuku’alofa in 2019.

The hosts collected 217 medals, 88 of which are gold, with most of its haul coming from medal-rich events in athletics, weightlifting, powerlifting, boxing, and bodybuilding.

Papua New Guinea also capitalized on the course familiarity when it swept all four gold medals at stake in golf, winning the men’s and women’s team and individual events.

Athletics alone contributed 23 gold medals behind the three-gold haul each of sprinter Toea Wisil and jumper Rellie Kaputin, who established new PNG national records. PNG won a total of 62 medals in track and field events with 21 silvers and 18 bronzes.

Weightlifting added 13-5-3, powerlifting had 8-3-4, boxing chipped in 8-1-2, while boxing collected 5-3-2.

This was the first time since 1991 that PNG ruled the Pacific Games. They beat perennial overall champion New Caledonia with 59-50-56 or 165 toral medals, while Tahiti came in third 39-34-40 for a 113 total.

Fiji (33-34-40), Samoa (17-23-11), Nauru (7-10-5), the Solomon Islands (7-6-15), Tonga (7-1-9), the Cook Islands (6-7-16), Guam (3-3-7), Kiribati (3-1-5), American Samoa (3-1-4), the Federated States of Micronesia (3-1-0), Vanuatu (2-8-12), Norfolk Island (2-3-2), Wallis and Futuna (1-1-6), Tuvalu 1-0-3), Niue (0-1-1), Palau (0-1-1), and the Marshall Islands (0-0-5) complete the medal tally.

Australia—which only competed in rugby 7s, sailing, taekwondo, and weighlifting—came in sixth overall with 17 gold, 19 silver, and 11 bronze, while New Zealand had a 1-9-10 combined haul in weightlifting and taekwondo.

Tuvalu also made history when it won its first Pacific Games gold medal thanks to powerlifter Telupe Iosefa in the 120-kilogram event who had a squat lift of 337.5kg, a bench press of 182.5kg, and a deadlift of 285kg for a total of 805kg.

Tuvalu also had two bronze medals in powerlifting behind female lifters Asenate Manoa and Teofoga Edueni Sonya Dabwido, while heavyweight boxer Harry Dave Eti Esela finished third.

The CNMI and Tokelau failed to win any medals with the Commonwealth competing in athletics, beach volleyball, bodybuilding, outrigger canoe, golf, sailing, swimming, and triathlon. Tokelau only sent Sam Iasona in men’s squash.

In other news, Beouch Ogumoro Ngirchongor ended the CNMI’s campaign when he finished 14th overall in the semifinals of the men’s 200-meter run. He finished eighth in his heat clocking in 24.43 seconds.

Fiji’s Ratu Banuve Tabakaucoro won the gold with a new Pacific Games record of 20.53 seconds, while Papua New Guinea’s Nelson Stone (21.28) and Theo Piniau (21.37) settling for the silver and bronze, respectively.