EQUESTRIAN: Australias Oceania Championships Young Rider Team continued to impress on cross-country day at Melbourne International 3 Day Event.

Going into yesterdays second phase with only a narrow lead over the New Zealand team, they managed to strengthen their hold on the prestigious contest thanks to a superb riding display led by Gemma Tinney.

The 19-year-old and her super fit mare Annapurna were the last combination out on the course and they rocketed around to finish clear and well within time.

The effort pushed her into second place overall (45.70) behind NSW rider Andrew Barnett (41.90).

Her team mate Shenae Lowings also rode strongly and is now sitting third in the overall individual standings (47.60). Olivia Barton is 8th after finishing on 51.90 penalties and Tayah Andrew is 14th (59.3).

Former Australian Olympic Eventing coach and Equestrian legend Wayne Roycroft was highly impressed with what he witnessed from the Young Rider team at Werribee Park today.

Gemma Tinney is still inexperienced and she is an excellent young rider, Roycroft said.

I was very impressed with the whole lot of that team, thats where our future is, he added.

For full provisional results of the CCI2* click HERE >>>>

Its a different story for Australias Senior Oceania Championships Team, who are trailing the Kiwis after cross-country day.

See Saturday's results HERE >>>>

New Zealands Jock Paget (46.90), Virginia Thompson (47.10) and Samantha Felton (49.20) currently fill the top three positions with last years CCI3 * winner Stuart Tinney and his big grey Warmblood War Hawk the highest placed Australian representative rider 5th (52.60).

Hazel Shannon fell at the sixth fence and were eliminated. Both her and Clifford did not suffer any major injury.

Whilst they might be behind the Kiwis overall, Roycroft commended the Australian selectors decision to give some new names a chance in a representative team this weekend.

I think the fact that the Australian team selectors decided to put in unproven combinations that are young and looking forward to the future is a really good idea.

The Kiwis will be hard to beat this time but our riders will gain great experience from the competition and being in a team situation, Roycroft said.

For full provisional results of the CCI3* click HERE >>>

The final day of the Melbourne International 3 Day Event and the Oceania Championships begantoday at 9am.

Equestrian Australia

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Australian Olympic Committee: Future stars in force at Oceania ... - Australian Olympic Committee

Cruise prices for Oceania Cruises have doubled on certain sailings in the aftermath of the Brexit vote, the lines senior vice-president has revealed.

Bernard Carter, who is also managing director EMEA, told agent partners during a ship visit onboard Nautica in Southampton last week that Brexit had caused a range of issues. We are selling some cruises at double the price we did last year partly because of Brexit and partly because of changes in strategy on our part.

Later speaking to TTG, Carter said Oceania was one of the first to break ranks and raise prices following the referendum result last June. [After the vote], any brand priced in US dollars experienced an immediate change. We made a move in September to realign to the new exchange rate And in some circumstances we are selling at double the price rate compared with last year.

It comes after Carter admitted the line had been forced to drop prices in the UK to attract British passengers and fill ships following a slump in demand from the US last year, as Americans shied away from Europe amid fears over terrorism.

Last year we attracted lots of new British and European guests to the brand... We had to the market was very suppressed because the Americans werent coming to Europe.

He added however that despite the price fall last year, Oceania prices were now higher than in 2015.

Theres no denying that 2017 is a challenging year but our revenue yield per day is significantly up year-on-year. That is in part thanks to our trade partners. This time last year we had 88 sailings on special offer, today we have a quarter of that, he added.

When we launched in the UK in 2005, we were cheaper than the US. Now we are heading towards the same levels on the whole as they are.

Carter also said Oceania was unlikely to follow sister line Norwegian Cruise Line in introducing all-inclusive fares.

The line already offers free unlimited internet onboard in addition to its OLife Choice programme, which enables guests to choose from free shore excursions, a free house beverage package or a shipboard credit. Carter said: We have set ourselves aside to be the cruise line of choice.

Early last year we introduced OLife, as we felt that people need choice.

I would never say never [regarding all-inclusive], as we listen to our customers, but the message we get is that they like their freedom.

Link:

TTG Media | Travel industry, travel agent and tourism news, events ... - TTG

Oceania Cruises, the worlds leading culinary-and destination-focused cruise line, has launchedSell 5 & Sail Free,a fantastic booking incentive where UK travel agents have the chance to experience the cruise line that boasts the Finest Cuisine at Sea for themselves.

By booking and confirming between 1stand 30thJune 2017 any five cruises sailing in 2017, travel agents will be rewarded with a free berth on any cruise of up to 10-nights sailing this year.Qualifying travel agents may also bring a guest for the low price of $100 dollars per day.

We have found that there is no better reward for our loyal travel partners than by offering the chance to sail on board Oceania Cruises themselves, said Bernard Carter,Senior Vice President & Managing Director, EMEA, Oceania Cruises. Travel agents who experience the finest cuisine at sea, unparalleled service and elegant casual on board ambience of Oceania Cruises return to work not only well-rested from an exceptional cruise holiday, but also ready to sell the product with more authenticity and enthusiasm.

All six ships of Oceania Cruises luxury fleet the 684-guestRegatta,Insignia,NauticaandSirenaand the 1,250-guestMarinaandRiviera can be sold in the incentive with destinations including the Mediterranean, the Baltics & Scandinavia, the Caribbean, Canada & New England, the Caribbean and Alaska.

Two-Grade Accommodation Upgrade Flash Sale 5thto 19thJune

To assist agents in qualifying for the incentive, Oceania Cruises has also launched a two-grade accommodation upgrade Flash Sale, which agents can use to tempt their customers on a variety of outstanding 2017 European sailings.

The selected sailings range from 7 to 16 days and visit ports in the Eastern & Western Mediterranean, Northern Europe, around the UK and the Canary Islands. Selected Atlantic Crossings are also included.

The Flash Sale, which started on 5thJune and ends on 19thJune, is available on four of the fleets luxurious ships Nautica,Sirena,MarinaandRiviera and, depending on the ship, applies to selected accommodation categories.

For more information about the booking incentive or the two-grade accommodation upgrade offer, travel agents should contact their Oceania Cruises business development manager or emailagencysales@oceaniacruises.com.

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Oceania Cruises Launches Sell 5 & Sail Free Booking Incentive in the UK - Cruise Trade News

Oceania Healthcare Limited (NZSE:OCA) has a Q.i. Value of 53.00000. The purpose of the Q.i. Value is to help identify companies that are the most undervalued. Typically, the lower the value, the more undervalued the company tends to be. The Q.i. Value ranks companies using four ratios. These ratios consist of EBITDA Yield, FCF Yield, Liquidity, and Earnings Yield.

Checking in on some valuation rankings, Oceania Healthcare Limited (NZSE:OCA) has a Value Composite score of 70. Developed by James OShaughnessy, the VC score uses five valuation ratios. These ratios are price to earnings, price to cash flow, EBITDA to EV, price to book value, and price to sales.

The VC is displayed as a number between 1 and 100. In general, a company with a score closer to 0 would be seen as undervalued, and a score closer to 100 would indicate an overvalued company. Adding a sixth ratio, shareholder yield, we can view the Value Composite 2 score which is currently sitting at 65.

Oceania Healthcare Limited (NZSE:OCA) has a current ERP5 Rank of 12232. The ERP5 Rank may assist investors with spotting companies that are undervalued. This ranking uses four ratios. These ratios are Earnings Yield, ROIC, Price to Book, and 5 year average ROIC. When looking at the ERP5 ranking, it is generally considered the lower the value, the better.

Looking at some alternate time periods, the 12 month price index is 1.05063, the 24 month is 1.05063, and the 36 month is 1.05063. Narrowing in a bit closer, the 5 month price index is 1.05063, the 3 month is 1.05063, and the 1 month is currently 1.05063.

Watching some historical volatility numbers on shares of Oceania Healthcare Limited (NZSE:OCA), we can see that the 12 month volatility is presently 0.000000. The 6 month volatility is 0.000000, and the 3 month is spotted at 0.000000.

Following volatility data can help measure how much the stock price has fluctuated over the specified time period. Although past volatility action may help project future stock volatility, it may also be vastly different when taking into account other factors that may be driving price action during the measured time period.

We can now take a quick look at some historical stock price index data. Oceania Healthcare Limited (NZSE:OCA) presently has a 10 month price index of 1.05063. The price index is calculated by dividing the current share price by the share price ten months ago. A ratio over one indicates an increase in share price over the period. A ratio lower than one shows that the price has decreased over that time period.

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Oceania Healthcare Limited (NZSE:OCA) Company Valuation & Investor Review - JCTY News

The region of Oceania and Australia includes the continent of Australia as well as many surrounding island countries. It is located to the southeast of Asia. Australia is the smallest continent by size and the second smallest in terms of population. Oceania and Australia are surrounded by the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.

Much of the region's land mass is desert, but there are also very lush areas. Oceania has some very unique animal life for such a small region. Some examples are the koala (which is not really a bear, but a marsupial), the platypus, and the kangaroo.

Population: 36,593,000 (Source: 2010 United Nations)

Click here to see large map of Oceania and Australia

Area: 3,296,044 square miles

Ranking: Australia is the seventh largest (smallest) and sixth most populous continent

Major Biomes: rain forest, desert, savanna, temperate forests

Major cities:

Major Rivers and Lakes: Lake Gairdner, Lake Carnegie, Lake Taupo, Lake Murray, Murray River, Murrumbidgee River, the Darling River

Major Geographical Features: Great Dividing Range, MacDonnell Ranges, Australian Alps, Great Victorian Desert, Tanami Desert, Great Artesian Basin, Great Barrier Reef (in the Coral Sea), Southern Alps, South Island

Australia was first used as a prison colony by Britain where they would send unwanted criminals and outcasts.

The name Australia means "land of the south".

There are less people that live in Australia than in the US state of Texas.

Oceania is located in the southern hemisphere. This means that it has winter during June, July, and August and summer during the months of December, January, and February.

Oceania Map Game Oceania Crossword Oceania and Australia Word Search

Other Regions and Continents of the World:

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Geography for Kids: Oceania and Australia - Ducksters

GEORGE HEAGNEY

Last updated15:07, June 7 2017

DAVID UNWIN/FAIRFAX NZ

Manawatu runner Chris Sanson will race in the Gold Coast next month.

Manawatu runner Chris Sanson has been selected to represent New Zealand at the Oceania marathon championships at the Gold Coast next month.

Also going is Hawke's Bay'sLaura Nagel, who will compete in the Oceania 10km championships.

This event has also been designated as a Commonwealth Games selection trial and the 29-year-old Sanson could be in with a shot at being picked if heperforms on the Gold Coast.

In the past 18 months, Sanson has been in top form with his long-distance running.

This year hewon the half marathon at the Hawke's Bay marathon, the Wellington Round the Bays half marathon and the Great Forest Events half at Waitarere Beach,and he finished second at the Rotorua marathon, beaten by Japan'sSaeki Makino.

Sanson is targeting the national championships in Wellington this month, too.

Last year hehad four second places at big running events - the Wellington half marathon, the Hawke's Bay marathon, Great Forest Eventsand the national marathon championships atRotorua.

Because this year's New Zealand marathon championships are after the closing date of application for the Oceania event, they accepted the winner ofthe 2017 Rotorua marathon (or next best available athlete), or the winner oflastyear'snational 10km road race (or next best available athlete), or athletes who submitted their performances for marathon or 10km road competitions from the past year.

A former triathlete and Ironman, Sanson started focusing on long-distance running last year.

-Stuff

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Manawatu's Chris Sanson off to Oceania marathon championships - Manawatu Standard

Cruise Fever

Oceania Cruises Offering Flight Upgrade Offer for European Sailings Cruise Fever Oceania Cruises, the world's largest upper premium cruise line, is currently offering a flight upgrade special as part of the signature OLife Choice package. and more »

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Oceania Cruises Offering Flight Upgrade Offer for European Sailings - Cruise Fever

Representatives of Oceania Rugby gathered in Nukualofa last week, 30-31 May for the 2017 Annual General Meeting and a Leading RugbyWorkshop.

Bruce Cook, Rugby Services Manager for Oceania and World Rugby, said that the two days Leading Rugby Workshop will lead participants to look at how to assist unions to do things better that is why we use the term LeadingRugby.

First on the agenda was an Olympic solidarity session. Solidarity has a lot of funds that can be access by a lot of unions around the world. So we are trying to make sure Oceania Unions are right up to speed on what they can apply for. The executive staff of Oceania Rugby will support them in their application, hesaid.

The fact that a national team from Oceania, Fiji, won the first Olympic Gold Medal in rugby in the Olympic is a boost for the development of rugby inOceania.

A workshop on the development of womens rugby, and a session on funding from Australia and New Zealand for the Pacific was held on the final day of themeeting.

The first gold medal for the Womens Sevena-side in the Olympic was won by a team from Oceania, Australia, proof of the high standard of rugby inOceania.

Other things the workship looked at was players welfare. Players welfare is key for the game . . . it is not just on concussion, it is also psychological welfare. We are all here for the players. If it was not for the players, administrators like us would not be here. We need to make sure that the players are well lookedafter."

Bruce said that the election of executive members of Oceania Rugby is held every four years, but at this years AGM they would elect only a newtreasurer.

The Oceania Rugby Executive members are elected by the representatives of Oceania Rugbys 15 MemberUnions.

He said the session on constitutions was also on the programme. We have done some work in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, and we are currently working on Samoa andFiji.

Bruce stressed that it is vital for Oceania Rugby during the next few years to get their constitutions up tospeed.

The Current Executive Membersare:

Brent Andersonf(NZL),Secretary

Ansrew Larratt (AUS),Treasurer

Reremoana MOekaa (COK), ExecutiveMember

Cathy Wong, Non-elected WomensDirector

Aloma Johansson, Non-elected IndependentDirector.

Oceania Rugby has 15 members. The 14 Full Members and one Associate Member of Oceania Rugby are: American Samoa Rugby Union, Australian Rugby Union, Cook Islands Rugby Union, Fiji Rugby Union, New Caledonia Rugby Union, New Zealand Rugby, Niue Rugby Union, Papua New Guinea Rugby Union, Samoa Rugby Union, Solomon Islands Rugby Union, Tahiti Rugby Football Union, Tonga Rugby Union, Tuvalu Rugby Union, Vanuatu Rugby Football Union and Wallis and Futuna RugbyUnion.

Bruce said that the group was known as the Federation of the Oceania Rugby Union, but since the International Rugby Board changed its name to World Rugby two years ago, they also decided to change their name to OceaniaRugby.

We want to go from the regulation side of the game to inspiration, and that is one of the reasons for the name change to WorldRugby.

Bruce manages World rugby Service for Oceania, the Oceania Rugby, with links to the Oceania RugbyBoard.

Oceania Rugby, based in Sydney, Australia is staffed through a partnership between World Rugby and Oceania Rugby which ensures a coordinated delivery of Rugby programs to the Member Unions of the region. The work of the staff is guided by the Oceania Rugby Strategy which was approved by the Oceania Rugby Member Unions at its 2015 Annual GeneralMeeting.

The staff of Oceania Rugbyare:

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Oceania Rugby assists unions "to do things better" - Matangi Tonga

Twitter is partnering with Riot Games Oceania division to livestream the inaugural League of Legends : League of Origin tournament, the social media service announced. Taking place June 3 to 4 from the ESL Studios in Sydney, Australia, the tournament will set four regions against each other.

Twitter has worked closely with League developer Riot before. During its All-Star event in Los Angeles Dec. 10 to 13, Riot used a live Q&A app developed by Twitter, for instance.

"Esports is growing at a rapid pace in Australia and globally, and this collaboration is a great way to tap into the engaged audience of gamers that are already using Twitter as a primary source of content," said Olly Wilton, head of sports at Twitter Australia. "By partnering with leading esports competitions like League of Origin, we look forward to bringing the best of esports live video and conversation together on Twitter."

League of Origin will feature players representing New Zealand, Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria. Every region will be run by an affiliated caster, who have each selected a coach and team to represent their turf, including players competing in Riots Oceanic Pro League (OPL) and Oceanic Challenger Series (OCS).

Riot Games Head of Esports Oceania, Daniel Ringland, is excited about the second-screen option Twitter brings to the tournament.

"Twitter is one of the most engaging platforms for fans of the OPL and OCS esports leagues, so it made sense to team up for League of Origin," Ringland said. "The live stream on Twitter will be a shortcut for fans in Oceania and around the world, as they can both watch and engage on the platform at the same time."

Since the inception of Twitter Gaming, the companys video game content vertical, Twitter has offered second-screen entertainment for esports events multiple times. Twitter has previusly partnered with Turners ELEAGUE and ESL, for instance.

Back in January, when Twitter Gaming was presented to the public, Twitters director of gaming partnerships, Rodrigo Velloso, emphasized what he thinks his company can add to esports events.

"Just like the sports conversation happens in parallel as a second-screen experience to TV, we also see Twitter as a second-stream experience to live esports events," Velloso said. "Its an incredible tool for esports teams, casters, and pro players who use it to connect with their fans."

Twitter strengthening its working relationship with Riot Games is the companys next step in setting itself up for a strong presence in esports.

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Riot Games Oceania inks deal with Twitter - Dot Esports

From left:Tulevu Tora, Paulini Bautani, Ratu Ilaitia Claymon Baleinaivalu,Katalina Fotofili,Pasifika Voices Director Igelese Ete and Artistic Director of the Oceania Dance theatre Peter Rockford Espiritu on April 30, 2017.Photo:Vilimoni Vaganalau.

Fijian singers and dancers will perform at the United Nations Headquarters in New York during the Ocean Conference from June 5 to 9.

The United Nations invited artists from the University of the South Pacifics Oceania Dance Theatre and Pasifika Voices to perform at the high-level Ocean Conference which is co-hosted by Fiji and Sweden.

Four world class artists from the Oceania Centre for Arts Culture and Pacific Studies at USP Katalina Fotofili and Ratulevu Tora from the Oceania Dance Theatre and Paulini Bautani and Ratu Ilaitia Baleinaivalu from Pasifika Voices will perform dances and songs representing all of Oceania.

The plan is also for the Oceania Centres, Artistic Director Peter Rockford Espiritu and Head of Performing Arts Igelese Ete to travel with the artists.

At present the directors are still looking for support to underwrite their travel and basic needs expenses to ensure that the group has the best support possible for the group to be set up for success.

And anyone who has the resources to help them get to New York, or any level of support would be greatly appreciated by the talented team.

The two can be contacted on:

Peter Rockford Espiritu Artistic Director Mobile (679) 9069 017

Igelese Ete Head of Performing Arts Mobile (679) 8653 589

Ms Bautani, a soft spoken and very talented singer, yesterday said she was honoured and humbled to be able to perform at the UN Ocean Conference.

The choir decided that I would be most deserving for this opportunity and I am really thankful to them for the support the entire choir has provided.

This has been a humbling opportunity. I am excited yet nervous at the same time.

The invitation has come from the Chair of the United Nations Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) group, Marlene Moses, Ambassador of Nauru, to perform at the PSIDS event at the Ocean Conference.

With funding from Germany and Canada, the PSIDS group have taken this opportunity to showcase the performing arts of Fiji and Oceania for a global audience.

The team will perform at a PSIDs reception held at the United Nations headquarters on June 6, which will be attended by the Secretary-General of the United Nations Antnio Guterres and many heads of state.

While in New York, the Oceania Centre artists will also perform at another reception hosted by Germany on June 5, and at a special event hosted on June 7 by the University of Bergen in co-operation with the USP and Norways United Nations Mission.

About: The Pasifika Voices Ensemble is an artist in residency program run by the Oceania Centre for Arts Culture and Pacific Studies at the University of the South Pacifics Facility of Arts Law and Education.

The Ensemble is a collection of 12-18 members of the renowned Pasifika Voices Choir, formally known as the Malaga Singers.

The Choir was established and led by the current director Igelese Ete in 2007 after the successful season of his original Pacific Musical Production Malaga The Journey.

The Oceania Dance Theatre is the professional dance company of the University of the South Pacific based at the Laucala campus.

Today the company consists of 20 dancers whose training commitment is five days a week, focusing on dance technique, Pilates-based mat work, terminology, flexibility and cross genre dance styles based on Ballet, Modern/Contemporary, Aerial Silk and Straps, Bollywood and traditional Oceania, i.e. Hula and meke. ODT also uses multi-cultural fusion that is reflective of the rich ethnic mix prevalent in Fiji.

An emphasis is given to culture and tradition as a strong foundation to build upon.

Entertainment is also an important element in ODTs varied and large repertoire for we are internationally know. The Artistic Director Peter Rockford Espiritu comes from Honolulu, Hawaii and brings to the table a substantial amount of professional dance experience.

His training as a dancer includes scholarships to study and perform at the American Dance Festival at Duke University, the Aspen Dance Festival, Colorado Dance Festival and at the prestigious School of American Ballet in New York City.

He is still the Artistic Director of Tau Dance Theatre for the past 20 years in Hawaii, has toured the world and choreographed and trained dancers in Japan for the past 15 years.

Edited by Naisa Koroi

Feedback: jyotip@fijisun.com.fj

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Team Oceania On Way to New York | Fiji Sun - Fiji Sun Online

Metlifecare was not the only capital markets deal in New Zealand aged care on Thursday.

It's amazing how often one company's IPO marketing makes way for an already listed rival to tap capital markets.

With Macquarie's Oceania Healthcare in the market educating Australian fund managers about the New Zealand aged care sector ahead of a sharemarket listing, rival retirement village owner Infratil spotted an opportunity.

Infratil owns 20 per cent of Metlifecare, New Zealand's second largest retirement village owner behind the $NZ4.4 billion listed Ryman Healthcare.

And that Metlifecare stake, worth about $NZ250 million, was on the block on Thursday night, with brokers seeking Australian fund managers to bid into the selldown book, as first reported by Street Talk.

It is understood Kiwi broker Forsyth Barr secured the trade at $NZ5.61.

The block trade markedan opportunistic move ahead of Oceania's bookbuild scheduled for next week. It madesense for Infratil to sweep the market for any demand,offering investors a company they already know and management team they can trust.

Interestingly, it was not the only capital markets deal in New Zealand aged care on Thursday.

As this column also revealed, Australian private equity firm Adamantem Capital made its maiden investment by picking up a controlling stake in Heritage Lifecare.

Heritage is a New Zealand aged-care and retirement village operator with 969 beds and 320 living units under management, across 19 facilities.

Heritage Lifecare's existing shareholders, including members of the board and the management team, will retain a stake in partnership with Adamantem

The acquisition values Heritage Lifecare at an enterprise value of NZ$115 million.

It's the first deal for Adamantem, the Sydney-based private equity firm set up by former Pacific Equity Partners dealmakers Anthony Kerwick and Rob Koczkar.

Adamantem reached first close on its new fund late last year, and is expected to hit a final close at about $600 million in coming months.

There is plenty of interest among private equity investors and Adamantem's rivals to see how the new firm fares. Kerwick and Koczkar were well regarded at Pacific Equity Partners, working on deals including Spotless, Griffin's Foods, Energy Developments and Tegel Foods.

See more here:

Big moves in NZ aged care ahead of Oceania IPO - The Australian Financial Review

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has signed a ground breaking Strategic Investment Agreement with ITTF-Oceania.

The deal, which was signed today, involves the ITTF investing significant financial and human resources into the region to assist its commercial growth, and the popularity of the sport. Apart from through the award winning ITTF Development Program, ITTF-Oceania has not had full-time staff previously, and this investment will provide significant opportunities to grow the sport throughout the region.

ITTF President Thomas WEIKERT stated: "Since taking back the marketing rights in house and doing a strategic overview of the current table tennis commercial state, we concluded that working closer with the continents is vital for the overall commercial growth within table tennis. Oceania is the first contract of this nature, and we aim to have more exciting announcements with other continents in the coming months!"

The ITTF will work very closely with ITTF-Oceania to develop and implement their 2017-2020 Strategic Plan, with the goal of improving their Continental events, to have them all meet the quality and presentation standards set by the ITTF-Oceania Cup. Also making the sport more popular in the region through an increased push in communications overall, especially through media and social media, and ultimately to create table tennis stars from Oceania who can compete on the world stage.

ITTF-Oceania President James MORRIS added: "I am very excited with this new Strategic Investment Agreement with the ITTF. This agreement will allow more resources for our Continental Federation and our National Associations so we can all become even more capable and sustainable.

I am very pleased to see the opportunity to have more full-time staff on the ground and I applaud our President Thomas WEIKERT and his ITTF team for understanding our commitment to best practice with our soon to be adopted Strategic Plan, which aligns to this Investment very well and will have many benefits moving forward."

ITTF & Africa-Oceania Development Co-ordinator Michael BROWN, who was instrumental in making this deal happen concluded: "In recent years ITTF-Oceania has been putting a lot of hard work into developing the ITTF-Oceania Cup, which has seen considerable improvements within its commercial viability. It was evident that the improvements to these major events have assisted in building the profile of table tennis within Oceania. Through the new investment made by ITTF, these improvements will be seen across more ITTF-Oceania events, including the Championships, as well as establishing the ITTF-Oceania Tour."

This is a milestone moment in the history of table tennis within Oceania, that will create opportunities and benefits for both ITTF-Oceania, ITTF and table tennis in general.

For more information, please contact:

Email:media@ittfmail.com

As a service to our readers, Around the Rings will provide verbatim texts of selected press releases issued by Olympic-related organizations, federations, businesses and sponsors.

These press releases appear as sent to Around the Rings and are not edited for spelling, grammar or punctuation.

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics iswww.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only

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ITTF Signs Strategic Investment Agreement with ITTF-Oceania - Around the Rings (subscription)

07 April 2017

Vector Wins Asia-Oceania Financial Performance Award

Auckland based energy company, Vector, has won a Platinum EEI Asia-Oceania Index Award in Washington D.C. for superior and sustained financial performance.

The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies in addition to having numerous international members. The EEI assessed 44 Asia-Oceania utility companies for their performance over three years based on rigorous financial metrics in small, medium, and large capitalisation categories. Vector CEO, Simon Mackenzie, accepted the award for the small capitalisation category yesterday at the International Utility Executive Summit.

Its a significant accomplishment for Vector to be recognised by a major organisation like the EEI, and against tough international competition, says Mr Mackenzie.

Vector is owned 75.4 per cent by Entrust, on behalf of Aucklanders who are also our consumers. That plays a huge part in the way we approach our business and the balance we must achieve.

Were in a great place being able to provide good shareholder returns, while investing ahead of the sector in new energy solutions that will deliver better service, choice and control than ever before.

Our financial performance will continue to support an ongoing programme of investment both in our current network and in new solutions that take Aucklanders into a new energy future.

Mr Mackenzie is also part of a delegation led by the Energy Minister, Hon Judith Collins, examining international trends in energy innovation, technology, and sustainability.

ends

Scoop Media

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Vector Wins Asia-Oceania Financial Performance Award | Scoop ... - Scoop.co.nz (press release)

On Wednesday, March 15th, 2017, ThrowdownTV announced their collaboration with Psyonix and RLCS to host the Rocket League Oceania RLCS Open Qualifiers.

With the announcement came a multitude of newly-found support, including a $20,000 prize pool and the chance for the Top 2 contending teams to compete at the Rocket League World Championships.

In just two weeks time from this announcement, Rocket League players of Oceania would receive the update they were all waiting for brackets were live, seeded, and ready to go all in due preparation for the 1-day Open Qualifiers.

The Open Qualifiers kicked off spectacularly with 106 completing their registrations and finding the necessary members to compete, the tournament was split quickly into four pools, for management purposes. These pools consisted of roughly 26 teams, randomly seeded from there, the top 16 teams would continue onto a top 64 bracket whittling away the teams until there were only eight teams remaining.

These top eight teams would undoubtedly be the best the Oceanic region has to offer both in skill and in determination for players, as they now face the weekly struggle of ThrowdownTVs RLCS League Play.

Coming into the day, we saw the teams whittle down extremely quickly. The strongest teams took their place at the top, knocking down anybody who stood in their path. While many players had their assumptions on who would be filling those top eight spots, every single team went into the competition with admirable determination, grit, and hope.

As the number of competing teams were slimmed down smaller and smaller with every passing completed match, we saw small upsets begin to form here and there, the underdogs were taking advantage of the small, imperfect cracks of slightly stronger teams and taking them down. However, despite the strength of the underdog teams, the strongest teams of Oceania disposed of them extremely quickly.

It wasnt until later in the day where we saw the first major upset of the tournament Corvidae versus JAM Gaming.

With JAM coming into the ThrowdownTV RLCS OCE Qualifiers considered one of the top four teams to look out for, their loss to Corvidae was a strong, confusing mixture of immense praise for the underdog Corvidae side as well as unsettlement in the competitive Oceanic Rocket League community.

Their loss meant that Corvidae solidified their spot in the League Play tournament, and pushed JAM down into the losers bracket just one more loss away from missing out on RLCS.

Theres no doubt that the day was completely packed full of incredible displays of Rocket League skill, with close games coming up left, right and center throughout both the winner and loser brackets most notably, the incredible reverse sweep that Sand Castle pulled off against the formidable Trident esports team, who seemed more collectively in-form and on-point than they had in their recent weeks.

Despite these extremely close games, however, nothing could have possibly stood out over the final game of the Open Qualifiers tournament Masterminds versus Trident esports.

With Trident esports coming into the tournament in form and convincingly strong, it was already surprising to see Sand Castle recover from their 2-0 deficit and overcome Trident who seemed to be struggling to close out games. What would ensue with the Masterminds versus Trident esports game would be far more surprising.

Masterminds were a team who had seen better days, still struggling with the leaving of up-and-coming powerhouse Kia but they were slowly beginning to look more formed, more on-point and clearly much more focused. With the line-up coming into the tournament being the new core roster of Nerd, Kamii and Requiem a core roster who had huge amounts of experience with competitive Rocket League Masterminds actually looked focused and feisty enough to take out a spot in the League Play, but the odds were weighed against them.

The Trident esports team were playing well together, just struggling to finish up games without dropping their defence.

The series saw an insane level of play from both teams, who had been playing the game the entirety of the day to get to this point. Both teams were tired, out of energy, and lacking focus but Masterminds saw cracks in the Trident esports defence, and capitalized whenever they could.

The series went into an incredible five-game total series, with the fifth game being the clear-cut decider on who would be progressing onto RLCS League Play. At the end of the day, Masterminds Requiem finished the final games overtime with a perfectly-placed shot from above the goal, which Tridents Dreameh just wasnt quick enough to defend the shot, ending the game with Masterminds taking the victory and progressing onto League Play.

With the Masterminds versus Trident eSports games finishing, we see the top eight teams progressing into RLCS League Play become outlined; these teams being 1More, Corvidae, Alpha Sydney, Masterminds, JAM Gaming, Scylla esports, Sand Castle and Legacy esports.

These teams will be competing for the next few weeks against each other, all aiming for one of the top two contending spots, and henceforth, a chance at Rocket League World Championships.

With the Open Qualifiers being a tournament full of nail-biting games, most of which displayed amazing levels of skill, its safe to say that the upcoming League Play will likely house its own fair share of upsets and eventful moments for all players involved.

If the League Play is going to be anything like the Open Qualifiers, which it may very well be, we may see one of the underdogs of the top eight securing a spot at the Rocket League World Championships an event which would be utterly incredible to witness.

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Rocket League Oceania: Open Qualifiers Recap - The Roar

STU PIDDINGTON

Last updated17:48, April 4 2017

JOHN BISSET/FAIRFAX NZ

South Canterbury will be well represented at the Oceania championships in Brisbane(from left, at rear) Ella Benson, Sophie Lowen, Keaton Swindells, Jan Kuepper, Leah McDonald and Ariana Snook, (front, from left) Charli Nevin, Roshean O'Connor and Charlotte Clarke.

South Canterbury speed skaters will form the basis of the 26-strong New Zealand team to compete at the 2017 Oceania championships in Brisbane.

Ten junior and cadet skaters from Timaru will be vying for titles over Easter.

Last year in an impressive performance South Canterbury skaters won more Oceaniatitles than the whole Australian team.

It could however be a tougher prospect this year with the Australianshavinghome advantage on the roads of Brisbane.

Also South Canterbury will only have under 20 and under 14 representatives, withsenior sprinter Dale Christofferson away.

Christofferson is in Europe for amonth competing in some big races in France andGermany, plus the Slovenia national championships.

Five of the six junior girls are from South Canterbury, along with the well performed Renee Teers from Wanganui.

Leah McDonald is the defending junior champion over1000m, 10,000m points and marathon and will be favourite again having had some impressive performances in the build-up.

Arianna Snook is another juniorlooking for titles after winning the open 10,000m and20,000m road races at the New Zealand championships in Auckland inJanuary.

Snook is however recovering from a recent compartment syndrome operation on both legs and is not 100 per cent fit but is still likely to be in the mix.

Sophie Lowen is also back after a long term shoulder injury, sustainedfrom a kayaking accident, but after winning threenational titles should also be a good chance of a podium finish.

The Kiwi juniors will face a tougher assignment however as three Australians girls gained valuable experience at last year's junior world championships, while New Zealand had no female representatives.

In the junior men the talented Jan Kuepper should be more competitive as it his second year in the grade.

Keaton Swindells made a clean sweep of the cadet boys' races last year, but the 15-year-old steps up into the junior grade and will face competitors up to fouryears older than himself.

Upper Hutt's Hadley Beech Upper Hutt and Sam Portchfrom Palmerston North will alsorace in the junior men's grade.

In the cadet girls (under 14), Ella Bensonstarts out as favourite after winning two titles last year, with the other title holders moving up into the junior ranks.

Charli NevinandRoshean O'Connor are both determined competitors and could feature prominently in the longer events.

Palmerston North's Serenity Griffith is likely to be a contender in the sprints while three Nelson skaters,Holly Ward, Lydia Stack andOcean Collinson-Smith make up the seven-strong cadet girls team.

Timaru's experienced Bill Begg will coach the team with Rebecca Smith fromWanganui his assistant.

The South Canterbury presence in the team is completedwith managerChristene Swindells and Lisa Snook as her assistant.

-Stuff

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Young South Canterbury speed skaters hunting medals in Australia at Oceania Championships - The Nelson Mail

Veteran tennis player Leander Paes was dropped from the Indian team today for the Asia/Oceania Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan that will be held in Bengaluru from April 7 to 9.

Indian captain Mahesh Bhupathi took the decision and selected Rohan Bopanna to pair with Sriram Balaji in the second round Davis Cup tie in Group 1 of the Asia/Oceania zone to be played at the KSLTA.

Leander Paes in an interview to Times Now, said, "The sport of tennis is a lot bigger than me, playing for the country is a lot bigger than me. I feel I am in good form. I won an ATP challenger tournament. I have come here to represent the country."

When asked about the strategy of having three singles and one doubles players, he said, "I think that every captain has the right to have their choice in choosing the team, especially the best team that can put forward for the tie. For me, that criteria should remain a constant. It should not fluctuate, and it seems to fluctuate a lot in this case."

While Paes has been dropped out, Bopanna and Balaji will feature in the doubles match against Farrukh Dustov and Sanjar Fayziev. Bopanna is ranked 23rd in the world 34 spots above Paes.

This is the first time in 27 years that Leander Paes has been dropped out of the Davis Cup tournament. He debuted his Davis Cup against Japan in 1990. He is currently locked at 42 with Italian legend Nico Pietrangeli and is one win away from the record for most doubles wins in Davis Cup history. (With inputs from Agencies)

More:

Davis Cup: Mahesh Bhupathi drops Leander Paes from Asia/Oceania Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan - Bangalore Mirror

More than two-thirds of Oceania Healthcare's sites are on New Zealand's North Island.

Meet the aged care rollout story setting course for the listed market.

Macquarie-backed initial public offering candidate Oceania Healthcarehas told fund managers it has 1674 new residences in the pipeline with about 1000 already eitherconsented or under construction.

The New Zealand-basedcompany had $NZ47 million in proforma underlying EBITDA in the 2016 financial year, which was up from $NZ26.9 million in 2014 and $NZ29.6 million in 2015.

That represents 32 per cent average annual growth, and Oceania expects similar sorts of numbers into the medium term fuelled by the aforementioned development at sites including Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Nelson and Christchurch.

Oceania said care beds were the biggest part of its portfolio, and would make up 47 per cent of its business under current development plans. Independent units is its biggest growth engine, and is expected to grow to 38 per cent of the portfolio.

That's Oceania's pitch, as it goes about meeting Australian fundies ahead of a planned listing.

Owner Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets has house broker Macquarie Capital on board to manage the offer, while Kiwi brokers Deutsche Craigs and First NZ Capital - affiliates of the local Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse respectively - are also along for the ride.

Fundies expect the company to be back in front of them as early as next month. As always, whether the IPO floats or flops will depend on pricing.

Investors were quick to compare Oceania torivalsSummerset Group Holdings and Metlifecare, which are already on the ASX boards, and the NZX-listed Ryman Healthcare and Arvida Group.

While the five players operate in the same sector, their respective business mixes are quite different. Oceania has made its name in care beds, which is similar to Arvida, while Summerset Group and Metlifecare make their money from independent units. Rymanis split more evenly between the two sub-sectors.

Oceania is just the latest in a long line of Kiwi floats seeking to drum up support among the Australian institutional investment community.

Its run at the ASX boards comes after earlier attempts to attract a private equity or trade buyer for the 48-strong retirement facility portfolio.

Read more here:

Aged care play Oceania Healthcare's pitch to fundies - The Australian Financial Review

12 Mar 2017, 10:30 a.m.

Bathurst BMX Club rider Hayley Wolfenden earned herself a new career highlight an Oceania podium.

TWELVE months after she placed secondat the national titles, Bathurst BMX Club rider Hayley Wolfenden earned herself a new career highlight an Oceania podium.

GOOD START: Bathurst BMX Club's Hayley Wolfenden leads the way over Kiwi rival Toni James in a moto during the Oceania Championships. Photo: ANYA WHITELAW

Competing at her home track over three days of racing last weekend, the 26-year-old showed up some of her more experienced rivals.

Riding in the 17 and over womens class, she placed third in both BMX Australias national series on Friday night and the Grands Assault series on Sunday afternoon.

Though that pair of podiums was impressive, it was eclipsed by her second placing in Saturdays Oceania Championships for her class.

The result was the biggest of her BMX career thus far.

Its your home track, so its sort of strange to contemplate that it came it such a big event, she said.

Youre racing international riders. It definitely felt like something bigger than a club meet.

Its pretty much the second highest group before you turn pro, if youre not riding pro you tend to ride that group.

While a mistake on the second jump on Friday night saw Wolfenden go from first to third in her final moto, the performance still gave her confidence heading into the Oceania Championships.

With no final conducted for her class, it meant Wolfenden needed strong performances in each of her three motos.

The first race I was leading to the line where I shouldve got one extra peddle in, but I didnt, she said.

I thought I might be up for therewin after that. But the next two motos were a bit of a different story, I just got seconds and that was what decided the overall result.

If your group was small, what they did was a point score system instead of a final, so every race counts. So its even harder again, its not just a matter of making the final and pulling it all out then.

I needed to win two out of three to get first placebut second, I cant complain, thats for sure.

Wolfenden placed second in each of her three motos to be runner-upbehind undefeated New Zealand rider Toni James.

The Kiwienjoyed a clean sweep for the three events, but given her experience, Wolfenden was happy to have tested James.

The girl that beat me on Saturday, well she beat me every day, I think she said that she has been racing since was three whereas I have been racing for five years. I was Okay, youve probably got 10 years or so of racing on me.

Ive just got to work on a few tiny things and hopefully next time I will be keeping up with the experienced ones.

Wolfendens next big test will be Septembers state titles.

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Hayley Wolfenden rides to an Oceania BMX podium - Western Advocate

As the Asia-Oceania Meeting of Religious XVII wrapped up March 3 in Yangon, Myanmar, participants said they would carry with them a renewed commitment to their responsibility as eco-citizens, the message of environmental care to their congregations and beyond, and an affirmation of the meeting's importance in strengthening the work of religious in the region.

The conference's theme, "A Call for Global Ecological Conversion," used Pope Francis' encyclical "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home" and his papal bull,Misericordia Vultus, which introduced the Holy Year of Mercy, as spiritual frameworks in exploring issues related to the environment and climate change.

Participants said the message of caring for the Earth, countering climate change and helping communities that global warming affects most will continue beyond the five-day Asia-Oceania Meeting of Religious, known by its acronym, AMOR.

"By doing this, we have done something for the whole Catholic church and the church in Myanmar," Sr. Margaret Maung, president of the Catholic Religious Conference of Myanmar, aSister of Our Lady of the Missionsand chairwoman of the 19-member working committee, said in an interview. "By the presentations and the table sharing and interacting, we came to know each other and the reality of the church, and that we are one with the Earth and the strengths and weaknesses of the environment and climate change."

Akeynote addressby Yangon Cardinal Charles Bo on the first day, Feb. 27, set the tone for the gathering of 132 participants from 21 countries. Country reports from Bangladesh, India, Korea, New Zealand and others showed the effects of climate change and pollution, as well as specific concerns, such as use of nuclear power in Japan in the wake of the 2011Fukushima nuclear disaster.

In subsequent days, participants explored more deeply the meaning of eco-spirituality and the inherent Asian spirituality that celebrates "contemplative consciousness" and "ecological consciousness understood as awareness and sensitivity to the interconnectedness of all beings and things on Earth," as Claretian Fr. Samuel Canilang, director of theInstitute for Consecrated Life in Asia, said in his presentation.

"Asians don't need anyone to tell us the environment is sacred," he said. "It is natural to us."

More:

Asia-Oceania Meeting of Religious inspires eco-citizens - National Catholic Reporter (blog)

MARC HINTON

Last updated19:29, March 10 2017

BRUCE JENKINS PHOTOGRAPHY

Olympic rowing champ Hamish Bond has produced his most significant result as a cyclist at the Oceania championships.

Clearly double Olympic rowing champion Hamish Bond wasn't listening when it was broadly accepted his dalliance with cycling would be a road paved with difficulty.

This, after all, was a career rower who had achieved special things sitting down and going backwards on the water. Nobody anticipated something similar swapping the boat for the bike on dry land.

But Bond continues to blaze an extraordinary trail in his remarkable transition to road cycling, a third place finish in the time-trial at the Oceania championships in Canberra his latest significant achievement on two wheels.

The 31-year-old two-time Games champion in the pair alongside partner Eric Murray has taken a year away from rowing to give competitive road cycling a crack. But even the Cambridge super athlete can't have envisaged the success he would have this early in such a different sport.

READ MORE: * Murray to rehab knee while Bond cycles * Another step into unknown for Bond *Bond to tackle Tour of Southland *Hamish Bond and Eric Murray win Olympic gold

Bond's latest achievement, finishing top Kiwi and on the podium in a classy Oceania field, tops even his earlier achievements in the New Zealand summer.

Previously Bond had beaten top touring pro George Bennett to win the Abel Tasman Cycling Challenge and then finished third in the time-trial at the national championships, followed by a creditable 14th in the road race. He was also eighth on general classification in the Tour of Southland.

But in just his second time-trial start on an exacting Canberra course, Bond has beaten home fellow Kiwis Jason Christie (fourth) and Joseph Cooper (fifth) to power to third overall.

The time-trial was won by defending champion Sean Lake, of the IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness team, who powered home in 54min 32sec.

Fellow Aussie Ben Dyball was 53s back in second place, with Bond coming home 1:00 behind the winner and 1:38 ahead of Christie who was second behind Jack Bauer in the national time-trial in early January.

Bond was rapt with his effort as he continues to fast-track his education in the tough time-trial discipline.

"It's important I keep improving and keep justifying the input of a lot of people who have been quite generous with their time and effort in terms of helping me progress quickly," Bond told Stuff from Canberra. "It's always good to put in a good performance that justifies that and enables you to keep going.

"Though a lot of the top pros were overseas racing it was still a good calibre race, and some top New Zealand riders were there. To tip both [national road race champion] Joe Cooper and Jason Christie over was pleasing.

"I felt I went OK. It was a challenging course, and very little of it was flat. It was basically up and down the whole 40km which was a good challenge and I quite enjoyed it. It was a really good experience doing a tough time-trial like that."

Bond rated the Oceania bronze his best achievement of his cycling stint thus far.

"I felt it was a step on from the nationals," he added. "It's only the second time-trial I've done, and the idea was to try ride with a little more control. I was perhaps a little out of control at the nationals in terms of going over the red line a little early and just hanging on for the bulk of it.

"I tried to get my pace more even throughout the race here which was a challenge given the hilly nature. I tried to keep my efforts more measured and feel as though I did that to a degree. When you've only done two [of these races] you learn so much each time you go out."

Bond is bypassing the road race in Canberra, but will head to Europe later this year to continue to measure himself in his year-long stint in his new sport.

-Stuff

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Rowing champ Hamish Bond continues to excel on bike with ... - Stuff.co.nz