NEW CALEDONIA LEAD MEDAL TALLY, BUT FEMALE LIFTERS STEAL LIMELIGHT

The 2019 Pacific Games champion New Caledonia leads the 2023 Pacific Games medal tally at the end of the fourth day of competition in Honiara on Monday night. They took over from hosts the Solomon Islands late on Monday following their dominance in the pool, during the swimming competition. New Caledonia have claimed eight gold medals so far plus seven silver and eight bronze, for a total tally of 23 medals. The hosts are second on five gold, eight silver and four bronze. But the day belonged to two of the Pacific's best lifters, who won three gold medals each for their countries in weightlifting. The first medals at the Pacific Games in Honiara had gone to the host nation, with their flagbearer and experienced lifter Jenly Tegu Wini claiming three gold. She claimed the three gold in the women's 55 kilograms snatch category, lifting a total of 82 kilograms. Dika Toua followed suit for Papua New Guinea in the 49kg category, cleaning out the event with her own haul of three gold medals. Both also had their own teammates who claimed the silver medals. Solomon Islander Lora Maelosia claimed three silver medals behind her mate Wini. Toua's sister Thelma claimed the silver medalsand a bronze in the 49kg category as well. The Toua sisters' medal hauls were completed by Konio who claimed two silver and a bronze in the 45kg class. More medals are expected on Tuesday as the weightlifting and swimming competitions continues. [caption id="attachment_47482" align="aligncenter" width="1087"]

A family affair - Papua New Guinea's Dika Toua (second from right) celebrates with her sisters after qualifying for her sixth Olympic Games. Photo: RNZ Pacific / Junior Maealasia [/caption]

Some competition results

Meanwhile, some exciting matches were witnessed in the different competition held on Monday. In lawn tennis, the Fiji men's team had fought their way into a semifinal clash with Guam, after they had defeated Samoa 2-1 on top of their 3-0 victory over the Solomon Islands at the weekend. In the women's competition PNG sailed through to the semifinal in the team event after beating Tonga 2-1. The team of Pauline Hyun and Abigail Tere-Apisah were scheduled to meet the Solomon Islands on Monday night. In Volleyball, the Fiji women defeated Samoa 3-1 while Tahiti beat PNG 3-0. The Fijian men's team defeated Tuvalu 3-1 last night. Basketball saw some close battles in the women's competition as Samoa pipped Fiji 75-74 in a tough game. Cook Islands 59 defeated PNG 37 in another good game. In the men's New Caledonia proved a handful for their fellow French Territory team Tahiti, winning 53-50. In football games played Vanuatu beat Tuvalu 6-0 in the men's division while int he women's PNG outscored Vanuatu 3-0. In the women's rugby league competition some of the results saw Cook Islands 36 defeating Solomon Islands 0, Tonga 16 Vanuatu 0, Fiji 22 Samoa 10 in the first round of matches. Tonga defeated Fiji 10-8 in the second round to claim their second win of the day. In the men's competition Cook Islands 16 beat the Solomons 8 while Fiji dumped Tonga 20-0. But the Fijians then lost to Samoa 18-12 in the second round last night. Table Tennis saw the Fiji women's team beat Solomons 5-0. Tuesday will see more sports action, with sailing also continuing, along with table tennis, football, rugby league 9s and volleyball. Medal tally

Source: RNZ.com