Pacific Games

President Vidya Lakhan and Chief executive Officer Andrew Minogue visited Honiara last week to assess preparations for the 17th Pacific Games.

The delegation visited several of the Games venues, including the main Sports City precinct and the accommodation construction site at the Solomon Islands National University.

They were briefed on the status of works on the main road into the city, the near completion of the new international airport terminal, and the recent "Safe and Green Games" launch.

Vanuatu Weightlifting Federation said the highlight of this year’s games is that they will be taking two female lifters.

This was confirmed by VWF President, William Worworkon.

Currently, there is only one female lifter, Ajah Pritchard-Lolo in the sport.

Ajah represented the country in weightlifting in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.

She represented Vanuatu at the 5th ONOC Athletes Forum from 22nd to 24th September 2022 in Fiji.

The federation is yet to confirm the second female they will be taking to the Pacific Games.

FBC reports Chef de Mission Ajay Ballu saying these two sports had some issues that could not allow them to be part of the contingent.

In terms of bodybuilding, he said they have a governance issue and did not have an AGM.

And, he added, judo missed the bond payment deadline.

Ballu said all federations had been informed well before time of the regulations and deadlines and they will not be lenient this year.

He confirmed that the nation will be represented by 27 sports at the Honiara Pacific Games that will be held in November and December.

The Games Organising Committee partnered with The Nature Conservancy to track the movements of leatherback turtles from their feeding to their breeding grounds.

Inside the Games reports one of those being tracked, Solo, nested five times at Haevo nesting grounds in Isabel Province in the Solomon Islands between November 2022 and early January, before migrating eastwards through Malaita, Makira and Temotu Provinces.

According to satellite data, Solo arrived in Luganville in Vanuatu last week after a journey of 16 days.

In Vanuatu, in particular, budding throwers are keen to follow in the footsteps of world champion Michael Smith and world number one Michael van Gerwen.

The South Pacific Darts championship will take place in Tonga from Wednesday with female and male competitions.

The semi-finals and finals will be held on Thursday and Friday.

The championship was postponed last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Port Vila Darts Association formed five years ago and has become the central organisation for the sport in the South Pacific.

On the men's side, the countries that qualified for the tournament are Guam, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, French Polynesia, Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga.

On the women's side Guam, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, The Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Samoa, French Polynesia and New Caledonia are set to play.

The Pacific Games serves as a qualifying event for the Asian Cup and in turn for the FIBA World Cup.

The Games are scheduled to begin on November 19.

However, Inside the Games reports the Games boss saying there will be no beer sales at the venues.

Solomon Islands 2023 chief executive Peter Stewart said the responsible use of alcohol is an important message that the Games can assist with sending throughout the sporting community.

But SolBrew beer will be used exclusively at Pacific Games VIP and corporate functions, both in the lead-up to and during the Games.

The funding is expected to help visiting athletes with accommodation, sporting equipment and the construction of a temporary venue for open water disciplines.

According to the Inside the Games website this is a counter-balance move against the growing influence of China who have pledge to donate $US21 million to the games.

However, Australian Pacific minister Pat Conroy said Australia is only seeking to help the Solomons and its population.

Yesterday New Zealand Rugby announced all six New Zealand based sides would be relocating to Queenstown this weekend for the first three rounds of the competition with day games being played in Queenstown and night games at Invercargill's Rugby Park.

However, after further discussions between the teams and NZR, it was agreed to move night games to Dunedin's Forsyth Barr stadium which has a roof.

The move will add some extra travel time for the teams playing in Dunedin, as they will have to drive back to their Queenstown bubbles after each match.

The French territory previously staged the multi-sport event in 1971 and 1995, and has staged other major events, including the Beach Soccer World Cup and Va'a World Sprint and Distance Championships in recent years.

French Polynesia bid unsuccessfully to host the Pacific Games in Papeete in both 2019 and 2023, losing out to Tonga and Solomon Islands respectively.

But the Pacific Games Council's General Assembly voted in its favour at the weekend, as it beat out Vanuatu for the right to host the games for a third time.