2025 Pacific Mini Games day two: Tahiti continues dominance, baseball 'field is not playable'

All baseball competition matches at the 2025 Pacific Mini Games in Palau in the last two days have been put on hold because the Nippon Baseball Stadium field has been "washed out".

Baseball competition director Reagan Sidoi told RNZ Pacific that the field cannot be played on after the heavy rain at the weekend.

"The field is not playable," he said from Koror.

There is hope that the matches would be played on day three - Wednesday, depending on whether the field surface improves.

But apart from that setback, fans have been able to witness some exciting performances from the athletes in action.

Tahiti's lead on the medal table continues to grow, as day two came to an end on Tuesday night.

The Tahitians hauled in 14 gold medals on day two, adding to the nine they had won on day one, those coming from the va'a (outrigger canoe) races, archery and swimming.

Samoa, with six gold medals, plus Northern Marianas and Marshall Islands, who have four gold medals each, are also in the medal table top four after two days of competition.

Archery

Tahiti ruled the archery events, led by Aurore Cottet, who won gold medal in the compound event, scoring a total of 1,272 points.

Tongan duo Luisa Pongi and Ana Fifita claimed silver and bronze respectively.

Arthur Demachy added another gold in the men's compound event at the Melekeok Field, topping the event with 1,338 points. Tonga's Victory Pekipaki and Fiji's Patrick Nadan finished second and third.

Thais Pendu recorded another Tahitian gold medal in the women's recurve final.

Swimming

Action at the pool saw Tahiti dominating once again.

They claimed gold and silver in the men's 800m freestyle with Enoa Vial winning ahead of fellow countryman Nael Roux, adding to another gold earlier claimed by Lili Paillisse in the women's 800m freestyle.

Roux also won gold in the men's 400m medley.

Fiji's Samuel Yalimaiwai won the men's 50m breaststroke final and set a new Fiji national record of 27.74 seconds.

In the process he also claimed Fiji's first gold medal at the Games, while his team-mate David Young won silver, with Cook Islands' Jacob Te Atamira Story taking bronze.

Northern Marianas' Maria Corazon Battalones claimed gold for her country in the women's 50m breaststroke final, stopping the clock at 33.40 seconds, ahead of New Caledonia's Manon Baldovini, who took silver and Tahiti's Deotille Videau.

Samoan Page Schendelaar Kemp secured gold for her country in the women's 100m butterfly final, in a time of 1 minute and 1.16 seconds, ahead of Tahiti's Deotille Videau and Cook Islands' Mia Tracey Anne Laban.

Northern Marianas' Isaiah Roger Aleksenko added a gold to his country's tally in the men's 100m butterfly, ahead of Tahiti's Nicolas Vermorel and Fiji's Hansel McCaig.

Va'a

Tahiti continued to dominate the va'a (outrigger) races on day two at the Meyuns Ramp.

They claimed gold in the V6-500m women's event, the V6-500 men's competition, and one by their mixed team in the V6-500m event.

Volleyball

Day two of the women's volleyball competition saw American Samoa spiking off against Tahiti, wining three sets to nil.

The team from Pago Pago just edged their Tahitian counterparts in the three sets, winning 25-28, 25-21 and 25-18, to register their first win, having lost to Fiji on Monday.

Tahiti had defeated Nauru in their first game on day one.

Palau, who defeated Northern Marianas on Monday, recorded their second win in the competition, accounting for Nauru 3-0 in their clash.

That gives the locals the lead in pool A of the volleyball, heading into their third game against Wallis and Futuna on Thursday.

Wallis and Futuna played their first game and won, beating Northern Marianas 3-0.

The lone match in the men's competition saw Northern Marianas claiming a win over Kiribati in a three-set victory.

Nauru wrestling

Nauru Wrestling is happy with what their wrestlers have been able to achieve so far at the Games.

Isaiah Agege and Tyson Hedmon won medals in the Greco-Roman discipline during their international debut.

Nauru TV said in the under-17 55kg division, Hedmon battled his way to a silver medal, turning heads with his strength and focus on the mat.

Teammate Agege secured a bronze in the under-20 87kg category.

"It was a great experience," Hedmon said, promising to "train harder and come back stronger for gold".

Agege will now compete in beach wrestling on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Samoan wrestler Shane Palemia has won his second gold medal at the Games, claiming top spot in the men's wrestling greco event 87kg category, over Northern Marianas' Miles Borja.

3x3 basketball

An interesting competition is being seen in the 3x3 basketball.

The competition also doubles as the qualifier for two major international events, the FIBA 3x3 under-23 World Cup and the Commonwealth Games.

FIBA said in a statement before the competition that the champions from the Mini Games will earn direct qualification to the FIBA 3x3 under-23 World Cup.

The highest-placed Commonwealth country at the event will secure direct qualification for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.

FIBA said based on the strong performances at the Pacific Games 2023, and the FIBA 3x3 Oceania High Performance Camp 2024, interest in the men's competition will be on Guam, Fiji and Palau.

Fiji upset the traditionally dominant Guam at the 2023 Pacific Games in a thrilling gold medal match (19-18).

On the courts in Koror, Papua New Guinea proved too strong for Palau, winning 21-5 in the first women's match, before Fiji recorded a big 21-8 win over the Marshall Islands in the Oceania 1 pool.

Then it was Vanuatu who handed Palau their second loss in the competition, winning 14-11, sending the locals to the changing room with a lot to think about.

PNG later claimed their second win in the afternoon, beating Vanuatu 14-6, but the Fijians defeated PNG 18-7 in the final game.

In Oceania 2, Tonga looks to be the team to beat there with three wins from as many matches. They defeated Tahiti 10-9, Samoa 17-15 and Solomon Islands 18-13.

In the men's competition, PNG started their campaign in Oceania 1 with a 22-14 win over Vanuatu, Fiji pipped the Marshall Islands 20-15 in a tightly contested match while Guam proved too strong for Vanuatu, getting home with a 21-6 scoreline.

But the story of the day was Palau beating the much-fancied Fijians 17-14.

In Oceania 2 mixed results were recorded, with Tonga defeating Tahiti, and PNG pipping Guam.

Games security

A second group of Pacific Police Support Group (PPSG) officers have arrived in Palau, joining those who had arrived earlier to assist in providing security at the Games.

The PPSG will assist Palau's law enforcement agencies, helping to maintain the safety and security of all athletes, delegates and spectators throughout the Games.

There are 21 law enforcement officers from 12 Pacific countries, funded by the government of Australia, following a formal request from the Government of Palau.

Australian Ambassador, Toby Sharpe told the Island Times that the Games "is an important moment for Palau, with the eyes of the region upon it".

"Australia is proud to work in partnership with Palau to support a successful Games. This deployment will demonstrate the strengths of the Pacific-led model and what we can achieve when we work collectively to meet the region's needs," Ambassador Sharpe stated.

Day three

Table tennis competition will begin on day three, with the women's events starting off.

That will see Marshall Islands taking on Tahiti, Palau facing the Solomon Islands, Nauru taking on PNG and Kiribati meeting Vanuatu.

Volleyball, and softball continue with their pool matches, while beach volleyball also will see action. Baseball is also on the schedule, field conditions permitting.

There are more gold medals at stake in swimming, wrestling and weightlifting.