Pacific

Sports news in brief for December 22

13:46 pm on 22 December 2022

Fiji men's football coach Flemming Serritslev. Photo: Supplied/Fiji FA

Vanuatu beats Solomons in workers' football tournament

Vanuatu have won the I-comply Cup, beating Solomon Islands, 3-2, in Australia.

I-comply is an Australian horticulture company employing many Pacific seasonal workers.

According to the ABC, the popularity of football among Vanuatu and Solomon Island workers led the executive branch to set up a competition.

The match took place in front of 2000 spectators carrying Vanuatu and Solomons national flags and many were dressed in traditional island dress.

The proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to a local church.

Will Fiji coach still be in the job?

Fiji football head coach Fleming Serritslev's future remains uncertain.

FBC Sports reports the coach's contract will expire at the end of next month, and there has been no confirmation from the Fiji Football Association that it will be renewed.

It quotes Fiji Football Association chief executive, Mohammed Yusuf, as saying they have a busy 2023 calendar.

He said a decision will be made when the association president Rajesh Patel returns.

"When the president comes back then we'll decide, could be extending his contract to September or November or we could be advertising for a new coach, it depends on our negotiations with Fleming."

Serritslev took up the Bula Boys head coach job on January 31, 2020.

Late call-up takes out triathlon title

Samoan athlete Jett Lee Curteis is the new Oceania triathlon champion.

He claimed the title after winning at the Oceania Pacific Islands Triathlon Championships in Fiji on Sunday.

Curteis was a last-minute replacement for a team member who pulled out within days of leaving for Fiji.

Curteis attends Westlake Boys' High School in Auckland where he is a top runner for the school.

Fiji's Nikotimasi Croker and Christian Rokoua finished second and third to round up the men's podium.

In the women's race, Guam's Manaima Iijima was too good for the rest of the field showing her extensive experience at racing at a high level.

Tahiti's Maidi Susset finished second and Fiji's Katie Pattie, third.

Puletau new general manger of Oceania Rugby

Oceania Rugby has appointed Frank Puletua as its new general manager.

Puletua spent more than 10 years at the NRL, most recently as GM of International Strategy and NRL awards.

He has also worked with the International League Federation and Asia Pacific Rugby League Confederation.

He will be joining the organisation on February 1, taking over from Wayne Schuster.

String of records for Marianas swimmers

Northern Marianas swimmers set nine national records at the World short-course championships in Melbourne.

Despite no official swimming pool to train in for several years, Isaiah Aleksenko broke four Marianas records over three different strokes.

Jinnosuke Suzuki eclipsed his own record in the 200 metres freestyle.

Maria Batallones, meanwhile, smashed the 50 metre and 100 metre breastroke records.

In the relay, the quartet swam a new standard in the 50m x 4 mixed free relay.

Coach Hiroyuki Kimura said he is very proud of his swimmers, especially with the limits in training facilities.

"Of course, everyone will be happy if there's an official competition pool on Saipan. But the most important thing is not where we swim or which facility we use. I keep training our swimmers with that mindset," he said.

Australia dominate table tennis champs

The International Table Tennis Federation Oceania tournament has just wrapped up.

Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, New Caledonia and hosts Papua New Guinea had registered eight men and women in each team.

In the Pacific Cup final, Fiji's Vicky Wu defeated PNG's Geoffrey Loi 4-1 in the men's singles.

New Caledonia's Julie Wanegui beat Fiji's Grace Rosi Yee 4-2 in the women's singles.

In the Oceania Cup finals fixtures, it was an all-Australian affair in both the men's and women's singles.