Tonga

Cook Islands to face Tonga for netball gold

Cook Islands booked a place in the final by defeating Papua New Guinea 58-31 at the Multisport Centre, Faleata, urged on by their boisterous fans.

“This is great for Cook Island netball. Last time we were in a gold medal match was 1991. We have a huge support base, both here and at home,” said coach Suzanne Evans.

Both teams entered the game undefeated from pool matches. Cook Islands took the lead and kept PNG goaled for the first four minutes.

Samoa and Tonga reach tennis men's doubles semis

In the men’s doubles quarter finals, Tongan brothers Matavano and Semisi Fanguna upset second seeds, PNG’s Mark Gibbons and Matthew Stubbings, to progress to the semi-finals. An excited Matavano Fanguna said: ”This win means a lot. It’s our second Pacific Games but our first time to progress to the semis”.

Tonga one of six hopefuls to stage 2027 Pacific Games despite withdrawing as 2019 hosts

American Samoa, Fiji, Guam, Tahiti and Vanuatu have also lodged their interest with the Pacific Games Council (PGC).

The declaration of interest from Tonga is one of the most eye-catching of the potential contenders.

The kingdom was awarded the 2019 Pacific Games back in 2012, having seen off competition from Tahiti.

Tonga's Government withdrew from hosting the Games in 2017, citing financial concerns as the motive for the decision.

It led to the PGC reopening the bid process and selecting Samoa as replacement hosts in December 2017.

Rotary and UNICEF team up to vaccinate the Pacific

The "Give Every Child a Future" project is the major international focus of civil society group Rotary as it celebrates 100 years of service in New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific.

Rotary will partner with the United Nations children's agency UNICEF to support the introduction of three vaccines in the region.

Vathinee Jitjaturunt of UNICEF Pacific said the vaccines targeted three diseases.

"This project I think it will be able to prevent diarrhoea, pneumonia and cervical cancer. These three diseases are high in the Pacific."

Pacific nations to host future Tests in new 10-year rolling calendar

RLIF CEO Nigel Wood confirmed on the eve of Saturday’s opening round of Oceania Cup matches between New Zealand and Tonga at Mt Smart Stadium and Samoa and Papua New Guinea at Leichhardt Oval that the international body wanted to play games in the Pacific islands.

An RLIF meeting in Singapore earlier this month agreed that the Oceania Cup would be staged mid-year and at the end of the season on an annual basis, except in 2021 and 2025 when the World Cup is held.

Draw made for football competition at Samoa 2019 Pacific Games

Conducted by Football Federation Samoa, the draw used seedings based on FIFA rankings.

In the men's event, six teams had been set to be placed in Group A and five in Group B but due to an mistake on the day, five teams were drawn for Group A and six for Group B.

To rectify this, a straight swap was carried out in the match schedules between the groups.

Group A features hosts Samoa, Tonga, New Zealand under-23s, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.

New Caledonia are the top seeds in Group B, alongside American Samoa, Tuvalu, Tahiti, Fiji and Solomon Islands.

Marshall and Foran remain in Kiwis squad

The veteran halves are in a 19-strong group announced by coach Michael Maguire, with regular five-eighth Kodi Nikorima having been ruled out of contention by the Warriors.

Maguire confirmed Dallin Watene-Zelezniak will retain the captaincy, even though a shift to the wing or centres looms following the return to availability of star fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, who missed all of last year's five Tests.

Veteran hooker Issac Luke is in the group of eight players cut from the 27-man group unveiled midweek ahead of Saturday's clash in Auckland.

Smokefree Pacific Games re-enforces healthy message

Athletes, officials, spectators, volunteers, and the workforce involved in the Games are reminded that the event is smokefree.

May 31, which is just 37 days until the Opening Ceremony kicks off a fortnight of sporting competition, is the annual No Tobacco Day organised by the World Health Organization.

The annual campaign raises awareness of the harmful and deadly effects of tobacco use and second-hand smoke exposure, and aims to discourage the use of tobacco in any form.

Digicel supports Seventh-Day Adventist congress

The women’s congress invites delegates from across 10 countries including officials in the Pacific including, Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon islands, Samoa, Kiribati, Nauru, American Samoa, Niue, Tuvalu and the hosting country, Tonga.

The congress is expected to run for 5 days until the final day on the 22nd April.

Digicel proudly support the Seventh-Days Adventist church Women’s Congress from all across the Pacific with free visitor sims equipped with free bundles for delegates to use during their time of visit in the Kingdom.

World Bank Group Pacific Hub opens in Suva

The office will serve as a regional hub for the development institution’s work across the region.

The new regional hub will be integral to the World Bank Group’s delivery of more than one billion Fiji dollars’ worth of projects across six countries (Fiji, Nauru, Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu) in a wide range of sectors including transport, aviation, information and communications technology, education, disaster resilience, fisheries, health and education, among others.