Daily Archives: April 19, 2017

The women's team Fiji silver medalist. From left, Sainimili Naivalu, Akanisi LAtu and Mere Roden. Photo:Jone Luvenitoga

The four-day ITTF Oceania Championships which ended on Sunday night at the Vodafone Arena was a success, says Fiji Table Tennis Association president Anthony Ho.

He said Fiji was the first country in the region to host three table tennis competitions under one roof.

Ho said despite Fiji being a developing economy they still received positive feedbacks from International and Oceania Federation executives about hosting the events.

From the response that Ive been getting from the international and Oceania federation executives that watched and evaluated the tournament have been encouraging.

They say it was one of the best tournaments they attended till date.

The reaction of the international players and the medal presentation was of high quality. Also from our side we were able to take the bigger challenge of running three different events at the same venue. This requires a lot of planning and logistical thinking in terms of how we had to be able to complete all the events within the four day period.

Ho also said there were some minor disruptions caused during the event but they were able to cope with it.

It was issues like lights on the final day at the venue but in the end everyone was happy with what we had to offer them.

Fiji is renowned for its hospitality so which is very unique from the rest of the country that has been hosting similar types of events so thats what everyone will not forget.

We are really happy with the level of media coverage and the support we got from all stakeholders which included government the international federation and also a number of the local corporate sponsors.

The table tennis events have benefited Fiji in the tourism perspective.

People have left with many happy memories, which I think is a good platform for us as we were able to accommodate so many people with disabilities, he added.

The next event to be hosted in Fiji will be the World Cadet Challenge in October.

RESULTS: Australias David Powell retained his Oceania mens cup title after defeating Kane Townsend 4-2 in the final. Vanuatus Yoshua Shing settled for bronze beating New Zealands Mathew Ball 4-2.

Edited by Leone Cabenatabua

Feedback: grace.narayan@fijisun.com.fj

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Great Ending To Oceania Events, Says Ho | Fiji Sun - Fiji Sun Online

Need of heavy capital expenditures means very few are part of the hyperscale group which is posed to continue to take over cloud and other verticals.

Hyperscale operators are becoming the worlds top leaders in a series of verticals from cloud to networks, researchers have found.

Synergy Research Group has released new figures that show a growth in cloud shares amongst hyperscalers which accounted at the end of 2016 for 68% of the cloud infrastructure services market (IaaS, PaaS, private hosted cloud services) and 59% of the SaaS market.

In 2012 those hyperscale operators accounted for just 47% of each of those markets.

According to the think tank, there are today 24 companies that meet the definition of hyperscale operating 320 large data centres worldwide, with this figure expected to increase by 100 new buildings by the end of 2018.

Synergy explains that hyperscale operators usually operate data centre networks with thousands of servers. However, players like Amazon and Google stretch this to the millions of servers across the global data centre fleets.

Today, the cloud leaders in this segment include Microsoft, Amazon and IBM each operating 45 or more data centres with at least two in each of the four regions (North America, APAC, EMEA and Latin America).

Synergy highlights that in order to become a leading hyperscaler, a heavy investment has to be done towards infrastructure with capital expenditures exceeding the vast majority of companies worldwide and therefore holding many back from leapfrogging into the hyperscale segment.

For example, Microsofts CEO Satya Nadella has unveiled that the company has since the launch of its Azure cloud invested nearly $20bn to build the necessary ecosystem.

This, according to analysts, means that hyperscalers will continue to both increase their share of service markets and account for an ever-larger portion of spend on data centre infrastructure equipment servers, storage, networking, network security and associated software.

John Dinsdale, a Chief Analyst and Research Director at Synergy Research Group, said: [Hyperscale operators] are reshaping the services market, radically changing IT spending patterns within enterprises, and causing major disruptions among infrastructure technology vendors.

Furthermore, it is not just in the cloud space that hyperscalers are disrupting the business landscape.

The players in this segment are also building the worlds networks, especially subsea cables, which a large portion of the global internet traffic now running through private networks owned or operated by hyperscalers, according to Tim Stronge, VP of TeleGeography.

With a dominant position in the cloud and networks, hyperscalers are also consequently becoming leaders in the services space.

Read more from the original source:

Top 10 data centre operators in North America, EMEA, Oceania and Asia in Q1 2017 - Data Economy

Team Wellington are targeting further history after advancing to a third straight OFC Champions League football final.

The New Zealand domestic champions thrashed nine-man AS Magenta from New Caledonia 7-1 in their semi final second leg clash on Sunday to advance to the regional decider 9-3 on aggregate.

They'll face six-time defending Oceania champions Auckland City, who beat Tahiti's AS Tefana 4-0 over two legs.

Team Wellington and Auckland City will clash again in the OFC Champions League final. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

After beating Auckland in the New Zealand domestic final earlier this month, captain Bill Robertson hoped it would be third time lucky in Oceania.

"That's our goal is to go and win the full competition," he said.

"Auckland are a very good side and it becomes a little bit more difficult over two legs but we've shown in the grand final of the domestic competition that we're capable and we're certainly going there to win the game."

Team Wellington's semi final victory was sealed in their first home OFC Champions League match at Dave Farrington Park.

The Miramar-based club have finished runners-up in each of their two previous Champions League campaigns but played the group stages in Fiji and the grand finals in Suva and Auckland.

Wellington was originally scheduled to host part of the group phase before it was moved to Auckland to cut costs.

Team Wellington captain Bill Robertson. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Bill Robertson said it was great for the club and their fans to finally experience hosting an Oceania match.

"You usually think of the O-League as playing in the islands and playing in the heat, in the conditions, but obviously to bring it here to Wellington on a wet and windy day it's good for us," he said.

"We like playing here, we've got a good record here so it was good to get a game at home."

"It's great for the local people here to come and watch us," he's said.

"We've made some strides the last few years as a club. We want to be at the top end of the domestic competition and also in the Champions League so to bring it here to Dave Farrington Park it's fantastic."

Auckland City will host the first leg of the grand final at Kiwitea Street in two weeks time before the return leg in Wellington a week later.

See the original post:

Sport: Team Wellington out to end Oceania drought | Radio New ... - Radio New Zealand

Last updated12:53, April 18 2017

ANDY JACKSON/Fairfax NZ

Kaitlyn Watts was in dominant form at the Oceania Junior Championship where she won the under-19 girls division.

Palmerston North'sKaitlynWatts continues to find success on the squash court, this time picking up a title at the Oceania Junior Championship.

Watts, 16, won the under-19 final at the tournament which helped New Zealand retain the overall title at the event held in Henderson, Auckland over Easter Weekend.

She was one of eight Kiwis to pick up wins, easily bettering Australia (one) and Singapore (one).

Watts cruised her way through the main draw with wins over Australian Jessica Graham (11-3, 11-2, 11-4) and Kiwi Winona-Jo Joyce (11-2, 11-4, 11-3)

She then beat Kiwi Nadia Hubbard (11-7, 11-2, 11-7) to set up a final with 15-year-old Australian Alex Haydon.

While Haydon put up a big fight in the opening two games, Watts proved too strong winning 11-8, 11-8 and 11-4 meaning she did not drop a game all tournament.

Both Watts and Haydon were competing in higher grades than they had to, but their dominance against older players proved why they opted for the under-19 level.

It was a toptournament forNew Zealand players.

Finn Trimble beat fellow Kiwi Quinn Udy to win the under-19 boys division.

RhiarneTaiapa andMatthewLucente won the girls and boys under-17 titles respectively. WhileLeo Fatialofa won the under-15 boys,Natalie Sayes the under-13 girls andMaia Smales and Matthew Growcottclaiming the under-11 girls and boys titles respectively.

Australia's only win came in the under-15 girls whereSze Yu Lee beat compatriotGeorgia Lane in the final.

Edward Boon HwiThng picked up a win for Singapore in the under-13 boys by beating AustralianOscar Curtis.

-Stuff

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Kaitlyn Watts claims under-19 Oceania Junior Championship title - Manawatu Standard

FORMER Gisborne Boys High first 15 captain Isaia Walker-Leawere has been named in the New Zealand squad for the Oceania under-20 tournament.

The 1.97-metre, 122-kilogram lock, who grew up in Ruatoria, is part of a 31-strong squad named this week for the Gold Coast-hosted tournament from April 28 to May 6.

Ngati Porou-connected Kemara Hauiti-Parapara (Wellington) is among the 14 backs named in the squad coached by Craig Philpott.

New Zealand will play Fiji, Samoa and Australia at the round-robin tournament at Bond University.

While certain players such as Hurricanes back Jordie Barrett are unavailable due to Super Rugby commitments, Philpott is pleased with the squads depth.

The tournament is a build-up to the u20 world championship in Georgia in May-June.

FORMER Gisborne Boys High first 15 captain Isaia Walker-Leawere has been named in the New Zealand squad for the Oceania under-20 tournament.

The 1.97-metre, 122-kilogram lock, who grew up in Ruatoria, is part of a 31-strong squad named this week for the Gold Coast-hosted tournament from April 28 to May 6.

Ngati Porou-connected Kemara Hauiti-Parapara (Wellington) is among the 14 backs named in the squad coached by Craig Philpott.

New Zealand will play Fiji, Samoa and Australia at the round-robin tournament at Bond University.

While certain players such as Hurricanes back Jordie Barrett are unavailable due to Super Rugby commitments, Philpott is pleased with the squads depth.

The tournament is a build-up to the u20 world championship in Georgia in May-June.

See the original post:

Walker-Leawere in NZ u20 squad for Oceania tourney - Gisborne Herald

Villa pool deck. Photo:Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts

While the Caribbean and Mexico are getting their share of over-the-water bungalows, places like Bora Bora are still enviable destinations for many jetsetters. Just this month, two major hoteliers doubled down on their investments there, with sprawling luxury villas and two-story overwater bungalows.

Conrad Bora Bora Nui Conrad Hotels & Resorts has brought the first two-story overwater bungalows to Bora Bora at The Conrad Bora Bora Nui.

Located in a private cove on Motu Toopua, a small islet off the coast, the five-star resort is Conrads first property in French Polynesia. It features 114 guest rooms, including 28 tropical garden and beach villas and 86 overwater bungalows, as well as Presidential Villas. Each villa features a wall-to-wall sliding door that leads to an outdoor deck with sweeping ocean views; some also have infinity plunge pools.

Photo:Conrad Bora Bora Nui

Photo:Conrad Bora Bora Nui

The two Presidential Villas two-story, two-bedroom overwater bungalows boast sun decks and whirlpools, three bathrooms, two dressing rooms and a living room. A second-floor wellbeing room has a sauna, and the lower level has a private sundeck with daybeds and a bar area.

The property is also home to a spa with seven treatment rooms, an expansive infinity pool, a Kids Club, mini-golf course, fitness center and complimentary activities such as kayaking, snorkeling, scuba diving and stan- up paddle boarding. A hillside wedding chapel and the islet of Motu Tapu provide a backdrop for a variety of special events, including wedding ceremonies and receptions. The resorts signature restaurant, Iriatai French Restaurant, showcases innovative French Brasserie style dishes, while the Upa Upa Lounge Bar boasts a glass floor deck.

Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay After renovating more than 100 villas, the Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay will unveil the final two, the Imperial Villa and the Royal Villa, on May 15. Both have been entirely rebuilt from the ground up.

The two-story Imperial Villa, now more than double its previous size at 13,993 square feet, looks out onto Balis sunset coast. The walls of the upper-level living room feature floor-to-ceiling glass doors, which open to maximize indoor-outdoor living and offer panoramic views. Each of the three bedrooms has its own private indoor living area, sundeck and en-suite bathroom. The lower level has indoor and outdoor dining areas, a fully-equipped kitchen,an infinity pool facing the ocean and a gym. The veranda leads out to a rooftop garden and infinity-edged water feature an ideal venue for intimate wedding ceremonies, celebrations and dining.

Photo: Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts

Photo: Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts

The two-bedroom Royal Villa offers 8,073 square feet with a distinctive design inviting travelers to soak up the coastal views and beach lifestyle of Jimbaran Bay. There is also a separate childrens room fitted with trundle beds, while a connecting Deluxe Villa enables guests to expand their hideaway into a three-bedroom retreat with two pools. There are living and dining spaces both indoors and outdoors, and a romantic ocean-front Romeo and Juliet balcony adjacent to the infinity pool.

The rest is here:

New Luxe Hotel Options In Oceania - Travel Market Report