Pacific

Vanuatu wins first Games medal, Samoa picks up silver

09:18 am on 8 August 2022

Vanuatu has won its first medal of the Commonwealth Games - a bronze in the women's beach volleyball.

Sherysyn Toko and Miller Pata defeated the New Zealand duo of Shaunna Polley and Alice Zeimann in a thrilling deciding third set in Birmingham on Monday morning.

Sherysyn Toko and Miller Pata in action at the Asian Continental Cup Final in Thailand. Photo: Asian Volleyball Confederation

The pair lost the first set 10-21, but edged the second 22-20, and won the decider 15-10.

The Vanuatu team had topped its group ahead of England, and beaten Cyprus in two sets in the quarter-finals.

However, they lost to Australia in the last four to set up the bronze-medal play-off.

Boxer falls just short

Samoan boxer Ato Plodzicki-Faoagali had to make do with a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games after losing his final bout in Birmingham.

Ato Plodzicki-Faoagali after his semi-final win Photo: Facebook

The heavyweight lost out to local favourite Lewis Williams 5-0 on points on Monday morning.

Williams boxed sharp and clever to win the unanimous decision.

Just 24 hours earlier, Plodzicki-Faoagali progressed to the final in an epic battle of the Pacific in the semi-finals, defeating Niue's Duken Tutakitoa-Williams on points.

That was Niue's first-ever at the Commonwealth Games.

Plodzicki-Faoagali also won silver at the 2018 Games on the Gold Coast in the light-heavyweight division.