Category Archives: Oceania

Fugalaau Mafi, Ineti Felemi and Sailosi Fua will compete next Friday, 28 April at the Oceania Judo Championships.

Tonga will host the Oceania Judo Championships for the first time over two days on 28-29 April at the Atele IndoorStadium.

Around 131 athletes from 12 countries have registered to take part in the competition and will look to improve their world rankingpoints.

At a press conference held today, Tonga's Judo Committee confirmed four young Tongans, Sailosi Fua, Finetuui Moala, Fugalaau Mafi and Ineti Felemi will participate in the Mens +100kg and Womens +78kg competitionsrespectively.

The Championship starts at 9:00am on Friday, 28 April with the Senior Men and Women fighting it out to medal matches in the afternoon at 2:00pmonwards.

On Saturday, 29 April, the Cadets and Juniors will compete from 9:00am with medal matches starting at 2:00pmonwards.

The event is free to the public over the two days and is expected to attract around 180-200 overseasvisitors.

The Tonga Judo Association is looking to host an international judo event annually from 2018onwards.

They hope this event will be the catalyst Tonga needs to host more similar high level international sporting events especially in the lead up to the 2019 PacificGames.

Countries taking part include Australia, Fiji, Guam, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga andVanuatu.

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Tonga to host Oceania Judo Championships for first time - Matangi Tonga

Last updated09:38, April 20 2017

TENEILL/FAST PACE MEDIA

Nelson's Luke Denton was among the medals at the recent Oceania speed skating championships in Brisbane.

Nelson's Garth Jamerson and Sarah Stack have claimed Oceania speed skating titles as part of an impressive medal haul in Australia.

They were among the seven Nelson skaters representing New Zealand at last week'sOceania championships at Albert Bishop Park in Brisbane.

Masters men's skaterJamersonpicked up a medal in each of his events highlighted by his gold medal-winning effort andOceania title in the 5000mpoints race.

He out sprinted the strongest skaters from Australia to eventually skate away from the field, having also taken silverin the 1000mrace and combining with fellow Nelsonian Robert Stack and New Zealand team member Andy McDonell for silver in the 3000mrelay.The third-placed Australian team crashed in the change box, leavingboth skaterssprawledover the road.

Jamersonalso took bronze medals in the 500m,3000m and the gruelling 42 km marathon. He also hada near fall40mfrom the start of the 200m time trial and another wobble at the 130mmark but held on both times tograbbronze with his time of 21.320sec.

Sarah Stack snatched the Oceania 500msprint race title after shooting to an early lead. With less than 100m to go, the chasers had caught up but a fiercely determined Stack dug deep tooutsprinted her challengers and take the title.

She then combinedwith team mate Lynley Crawford for silver in the 3000mrelayand went on to collect bronze medals inthe 5000mpoints raceand the 1000m and 3000mraces. Stack was also fifth in the marathon on the last day of racing.

In the 200m time trial events, Nelson's cadet boy Luke Denton improved his personal best from 23.299sec down to 22.557sec to walkaway with the bronze medal.

Lydia Stack hit the road at about 35 kmh and destroyed her New Zealand skin suit and although she courageously carried onwith support from the watching crowd, the bruised and battered skater did not feature in any of her remaining events. Shewas the youngest skater competing.

Ocean Collinson-Smith (cadet girls)posted a new personal bestof 23.222sec and Holly Ward, also in cadet girls, posted her best time of 24.200sec.

Collinson-Smith and Wardteamed up withRosheanO'Connorto takesilver medals in the 3000mrelay.

Robert Stack, competing in the new veterans grade, posted a new time of 29.763sec - hisfirst time under 30 seconds - andtook home a silver medal for his efforts in the relay team.

Sarah Stack recorded a new best time of 26.682 to take a close fourth place in the masters and veteransladies combined grade.

Denton went on to snatch bronze medals in the 500m and 10km points race before combining with Chase Morpeth to pickup the silver medal in the 3000mrelay.

In the 1000mand 5000m points race, Denton finished a close fourth and was fourth in the 21km half marathon.

-Stuff

Continued here:

Nelson skaters bring home two titles and fistful of medals from Oceania champs - The Nelson Mail

The United States, Canada, and Mexicos joint bid for the 2026 World Cup has been backed by a potential rival confederation. With UEFA and AFC presumed out of the running to submit a bid due to hosting the previous two tournaments, that leaves just three possible contenders to try and snatch it away. However, the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) appears to be out of the running now too after their president has publicly backed CONCACAFs bid.

Oceania's FIFA vice president, David Chung, says ''it makes sense on a rotational basis'' for the 2026 edition to return to North America for the first time since the U.S.-hosted 1994 tournament. - via Associated Press

This would leave just CAF (Africa) and CONMEBOL (South America) left to submit bids to try and host the tournament.

CONCACAF is expected to submit a request to FIFA to allow them a one-year exclusive period of negotiations where they would have until March 2018 without any competitors to show their bid is up to World Cup standards. With so few contenders in line, theres a chance they could win the bid without an opposition at all if FIFA allows them the one-year period.

More here:

CONCACAF's joint 2026 World Cup bid gains support from Oceania - Stars and Stripes FC

April 20, 2017

Table Tennis By KILA NAO

THE Team PNG Table tennis team did very well both in the Junior and Para events at the just ended Oceania championship held in Suva, Fiji. This is first time for table tennis to achieve such an incredible results at the tournament that has also opened a pathway for the players to move to the next level in the future. PNG champion player Geoffrey Loi, Nao Agari and Albert Arua Kora displayed some venerable and tough shots against New Caledonia, Tuvalu and Fiji to take the Bronze medal in the Under 18 Junior team competition. In the Para event, Haoda Agari did very well in his pool by defeating the Oceania champion from Australia but went down to Fiji with 3 to 1 set while counterpart, Veri Nime took Bronze in the womens standing class. But they were able to clinch the Silver medal in the Mix team event beating Solomon Islands. Team PNG head coach Rea Loi said the players performed very well against some of the best players in the Pacific and proved that they were capable of matching them. We are still lacking some areas and we need to improve to get to the next level if we want to be ranked top in the Oceania region. The only way to get to the top is to train hard and be committed in both mentally and physically, said Loi. The management team want to express gratitude to the sponsors Chinese Embassy, China PNG Friendship Association, Leon enterprise and PNGOCF for funding the trip.

Serena Williams is pregnant and expecting to give birth to her first child later this year, which suggests she was in the early stages of her pregnancy when she won the Australian Open in January.

A Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick and an extra-time onslaught has sent Real Madrid into the Champions League semi-finals over Bayern Munich.

Serena Williams is pregnant and expecting to give birth to her first child later this year, which suggests she was in the early stages of her pregnancy when she won the Australian Open in January.

A Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick and an extra-time onslaught has sent Real Madrid into the Champions League semi-finals over Bayern Munich.

Excerpt from:

PNG does well at Oceania meet - Post Courier - POST-COURIER

Last updated14:13, April 20 2017

Colleen Sheldon

The New Zealand women's canoe polo team won the world championship last year.

The world champion New Zealand women's canoepolo team will now be turning their attentions to Trans-Tasman domination as they contest theOceania Canoe Polo Championship in Palmerston North.

Thecompetitionto decide the holder of theJulian Carter Memorial Trophy takes place from Saturday to Monday at the Hokowhitu Lagoon.

The New Zealand women won the world championship in September last year and will head into this weekend's tournament as hot favourites.

The men's side, who finished fifth at the world championships, will also have their eyes on securing the title.

There are eight grade titles on the line with 14 New Zealand teams entered.

Trans-Tasman clashes are likely to decide the winner of the masters, veterans, under-18 men and women's, under-21 men and women's and senior men and women's grades.

New Zealand is locked in for the women's under-21 title with no Australia rival, meaning New Zealand A will take on the B side in the final.

The tournament will be held over three days with 101 games on the slate.

The senior women's final will be at 1.30pm on Monday and will be followed by the men's final at 2pm.

-Stuff

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Palmerston North plays host to the Oceania Canoe Polo Championship - Manawatu Standard

It was just over a week ago that the soccer federations of the United States, Mexico and Canada announced their bid to host the 2026 World Cup . And while it seems that the trio is the clear favorite to win the bid, we haven't heard much from other confederations as to what they think of the CONCACAF proposal.

Well, we now know at least what one federation thinks. Oceania's soccer federation supports the bid, according to the Associated Press. Here's what David Chung, president of the Oceania football confederation and FIFA vice president had to say, via the AP:

Oceania's FIFA vice president, David Chung, says "it makes sense on a rotational basis" for the 2026 edition to return to North America for the first time since the U.S.-hosted 1994 tournament.

And since Africa, South America, Europe and Asia have all hosted since the U.S. last did in 1994, it appears that it is the region's time and Oceania sees that. It's also worth noting that CONCACAF is speeding up the bidding process for the first ever 48-team World Cup, and Chung is also on board with the confederation's rationale.

Oceania says it also agrees the bid should have "an exclusive period of negotiation" with FIFA for the next year.

FIFA's member federations will vote on May 11 to possibly give the North Americans a March 2018 deadline to show their bid is enough to host, and having the backing of Oceania certainly helps.

Read this article:

World Cup 2026: Why Oceania backing USA-led North American bid is good news - CBS sports.com (blog)

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

Queenslands champion Super U20s team has dominated the squad for the upcoming U20s Oceania Championships, named on Tuesday.

The Reds undefeated underage side has 11 players in the 29-player squad, with NSW fielding nine players, ACT five and Victoria three.

Seven of last year's World Championship squad has been included in the squad for the competition that also involves New Zealand, Fiji and Samoa.

Super Rugby and Aussie Sevens duties have also shaped the final squad, with nine players unavailable because of their tournament duties - Sham Vui (Western Force), Jordan Uelese (Melbourne Rebels), Esei Haangana (Melbourne Rebels), Izaia Perese (Queensland Reds), Sione Tuipulotu (Melbourne Rebels), Liam McNamara (Aussie 7s), Henry Hutchinson (Aussie 7s), Simon Kennewell (Aussie 7s) and Lachlan Anderson (Aussie 7s)

The Aussies will be looking to build on a series last year in which they beat New Zealand for the first time at underage level.

Australia U20s coach Simon Cron said the tournament would be another step towards Junes World Championships in Georgia.

As a squad we had a chance to work on some cohesiveness in our ball skills and talk about key fundamentals around which we will base our attack and defensive systems.

Well head into camp on the Gold Coast on Tuesday 25 April and we need to continue on from where we left off.

We have to keep building on the boys rugby brains as well as the tactical and technical coaching.

There are some great boys in the group and I am looking forward to working with them more in detail over the coming weeks.

The Oceania Rugby championship kicks off on April 28 at Bond University, with Fiji and Samoa included in the tournament for the first time.

2017 Oceania Rugby U20s Championship fixtures

Round 1, Friday April 28

New Zealand vs Fiji, 5pm AEST

Australia vs Samoa, 7pm AEST

Round 2, Tuesday May 2

New Zealand vs Samoa, 3pm AEST

Australia vs Fiji, 5pm AEST

Round 3, Saturday May 6

Samoa vs Fiji, 5pm AEST

Australia vs New Zealand, 7pm AEST

Prop

Harry Johnson-Holmes, NSW

Harry Chapman, NSW

Vaauli Faamausili, Victoria

Dan Matthew, NSW

Hooker

Tom Horton, NSW

Efi Maafu, Queensland

Sama Malolo, Western Australia

Lock

Harry Hockings, Queensland

Angus Blyth, Queensland

Ryan McCauley, NSW

Darcy Swain, ACT

Backrow

Lachlan Swinton, NSW

Angus Scott-Young, Queensland

Reece Hewat, Queensland

Liam Wright, Queensland

Angus Allen, ACT

Scrumhalf

Harry Nucifora, Queensland

Ryan Lonergan, ACT

Theo Strang, NSW

Flyhalf

Hamish Stewart , Queensland

Jack McGregor, Victoria

Centre

Tony Hunt, Queensland

Nick Jooste, ACT

Dylan Riley, Queensland

Len Ikitau, ACT

Wing

James Ramm, NSW

Jayden Ngamanu, Queensland

Fullback

Semisi Tupou, Victoria

Jack Maddocks, Victoria

All matches of theOceania Tournamentwill be streamed LIVE on RUGBY.com.au, RUGBY.com.au Facebook andOceania Rugby YouTube.

Excerpt from:

Aussie U20s named for Oceania Championships | Rugby.com.au - Rugby.com.au

STU PIDDINGTON

Last updated16:59, April 19 2017

SUPPLIED/Libby Benson

Timaru's Leah McDonald was the stand-out speed skater in the junior grade at the Oceania championships in Brisbane winning all her races.

Four young South Canterbury skaters claimed plenty of titles at the Oceania Speed Skating Championships in Brisbane.

The impressive Leah McDonald was the star claiming all sixindividual events in the junior women'sgrade and anchoring the New Zealand relay team to victory.

Ella Benson, Charli Nevin andJanKuepper were also among the Kiwi gold medallists as they dominated many of the cadet girls,junior women and junior men'sraces.

Libby Benson

Timaru's Jan Kuepper on the way to winning the junior boys time trial.

The three Australians girls who attended last year's world championships could not match McDonald's power and pace.

She fired an early warning shot winning the 200m time trial in 19.579s, over a second clear of Australian KayleenVance.

In the 500m three of the four finalists were from South Canterbury, with Ariana Snook and Sophie Lowen lining up with Australian Charmaine Chu.

Libby Benson

Timaru's Roshean O'Connor leading Ella Benson in the cadet girls 1000m.

McDonald beat Chu home with Snook third and then beat two Australians home in the 1000m.

In the 20,000m elimination, Australian Giselle Stogdalewent into the final lap leading, with Snook chasing and McDonald in third.

McDonald however timed her run perfectly, powered out of the last corner to take the title fromStogdale by the narrowest of marginswith Snook third.

Libby Benson

Timaru's Leah McDonald (left) wins the 20,000m in a close finish from Giselle Stogdale of Australia in the junior grade at the Oceania Speed Skating Championships in Brisbane.

The 10,000m points race went McDonald's way after she went solo for 3km scoring maximum points, then she finished second in the final sprint to take the title.

McDonald put the icing on the cake with a comfortable win in the marathon from Snook on the final day's racing.

The New Zealand skaters alsodominated the cadet grade (12-14 years) with South Canterbury's Ella Benson the stand-out.

Benson comfortably took out the 200m time trial and 500m sprint, with Charli Nevin third.

The 1000m was a clean sweep for the Kiwis with Benson again on the top step of the podium, Nevinsecond and Serinity Griffiths third.

Benson and Nevinalternated the lead in the 10,000m elimination as they broke away from the field, with Benson prevailing in a close finish.

In the 5000m points race the stronger skaters took the early points until Nevinand clubmate RosheanO'Connorgot away, accumulatingthe points until they were caught with two laps to go.

They had however done enough with Nevin claiming the gold and O'Connor silver.

Nevin then joined with Benson and Griffiths to take out the 3000m while O'Connor grabbed a second silver in the No.2New Zealand relay team.

The Australians finally claimed a victory in the half marathon after Nevincouldn't quite get past Asha Hickford on the final straight, despite a determined effort.

In the junior men Jan Kuepper set a scorching time in the 200m time trial, winning in 18.294s.

Kuepper's time was faster than the senior mens winner, Australian Robert Cook who stopped the clock in 18.442s.

In the 500mKuepper went quickly from start to finish to hold out Australian Kosi Lui and repeated the dose in the 1000m.

Kuepper was again leading at the halfway mark of the 10,000m points race but had to withdraw with leg problems.

He however bounced back to to take out the5000m relay with Hadley Beech and fellow South Canterbury skater Keaton Swindells.

The overall junior mens' title was on the line in the marathon after Lui claimed the longer distance titles.

Unfortunately Kuepperlegs again gave him problems, forcing him to withdraw handing Lui the title.

South Canterbury skaters won 16of the 24individual golds claimed by the New Zealand team, with the balance coming in the veterans and masters grades.

New Zealand coach Bill Begg said there were several highlights.

"Leah was obviously the best performed New Zealand skater, in a great effort.

"The junior boys and girls relays were also standout as while Leah won the time trial but the next four girls were Australians, showing they did have a decent team."

Begg said getting three of the four finalists in the junior girls' 500m from South Canterbury was also a proud moment.

"Some of the skaters however still need to learn race tactics, when you are part of a team."

-Stuff

The rest is here:

Young South Canterbury skaters clean up at Oceania champions - Timaru Herald

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.

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