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Palau rules 9th Micronesian Games; CNMI finishes fifth
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- A Kosrae wrestler, bottom, attempts a takedown against his Palauan foe during their match in the 9th Micronesian Games in Yap last week. (Hiroyuki Mori)
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- A CNMI batter waits for the pitch, while a runner gets ready from third base during their game against Pohnpei last week in the 9th Micronesian Games in Yap. (Hiroyuki Mori)
The 9th Micronesian Games wrapped up last Friday in Yap with Palau emerging as the overall champion after collecting 32 gold medals, 18 silvers, and 20 bronze.
Palau, which ruled the quadrennial event it hosted in 2010 with a 54-44-31 gold-silver-bronze tally before Guam (42-27-12) won the 2014 competition in Pohnpei, returned to the top after making a killing in medal-rich sports—athletics and wrestling.
Palau won 13 medals in wrestling—11 of them were gold medals—and 16 (five golds) in athletics. However, Palau’s rise to the final medal tally was made possible by its domination in the table tennis, two days before the Micro Games concluded. The overall champions bagged 16 medals (six golds) in table tennis to steal the thunder from the Marshall Islands (29-17-6) and Guam (29-12-12).
The Marshall Islands managed to get the lead in the medal tally for one day after hauling down 30 medals (27 golds) in weightlifting, while Guam was able to tie the former’s total gold output after prevailing in the women’s volleyball finals (incidentally against the Marshal Islands) in the last day of the competition.
Meanwhile, the CNMI joined Palau, Marshall Islands, Guam, and Pohnpei (18-33-19) in the Top 5 after getting 36 medals—nine golds, 18 silvers, and nine bronze.
Like the Marshall Islands, Team Marianas also benefitted from the notable performance of its weightlifters who won 15 medals (six golds, seven silvers, and three bronzes).
The Commonwealth’s medal output in Yap was better than its total (34) in Pohnpei in 2014. However, in Pohnpei, Team Marianas had more gold medals with 14.
After nearly two weeks of competition in Yap, majority of the islands’ delegation (athletics, weightlifting basketball, and baseball teams) were scheduled to return home last night.
