Taekwondo – Four Aussie golds to cap perfect Pacific Games campaign 

After a successful women’s taekwondo competition yesterday, our Aussie men backed up their performances on the mat today with four golden finishes.

Ben Camua in the men’s 58kg category overcame massive local support to defeat Solomon Islands in the gold medal bout.

South Australian Tyrone Staben cleaned up his bout with a 2:0 result against Tahiti’s Raihau Mai Apa in the men’s +80kg division.

“I feel good, it was a long hot day lying around. Having a better performance in my second fight has definitely been nice, I’m happy with the outcome,” Tyrone said.

“The Pacific Games have been awesome, felt very friendly and it’s good to bond with athletes from other sports and other countries.

“Our team for this first comp have all medalled gold so that’s a really great feeling.”

Up against fresh faces, Queenslander Liam Sweeney took home the gold medal in the men’s 80kg division against Papua New Guinea’s Gerard Chare 2:0.

“It’s amazing to win the Pacific Games gold, it means so much for Olympic selection. Words can’t explain how I feel right now.

“The Pacific Games have been amazing so far. What they’ve done here in the Solomon Islands is absolutely incredible,” said Liam.

Western Australian Matthew Summerfield fought his way to the gold medal bout in the men’s 68kg division and claimed the title due to his Solomon Islander competitor’s injury preventing him from taking the mat in the final.  

Aussie Taekwondo athletes are still in contention for more competition later this week in the Oceania Championships, separate but concurrent with the Pacific Games.

“We’ve still got the Oceania Championships in a few days so hopefully going to pull through that one with the gold as well,” said Tyrone.

“We weigh in tomorrow for the Oceania Championships and fight again on Friday. There will be a lot more competition, as its an Olympic weight division, so I’m looking forward to it,” said Liam.

Athletics – Golden Beer and Aussies through to finals 

Tokyo Olympian Ellie Beer won gold in the 400m in 52.67, just one tenth shy of a new Games record.

“Before the race I was nervous, but my coaches were great,” Ellie said. “They told me “Ellie, just go out there and have fun” I had so much fun, it was so good. 

“It’s been my best season opener and we’re not even in season yet, so it’s really exciting. 

“I’d love to thank my family, my coaches back home, my friends, I couldn’t be anymore thankful for all of them. I couldn’t be here without them, my coach back home, Brett Robinson, he’s been with me since I was 11 and he’s just backed me my whole life. I couldn’t be anymore thankful for him, and to my beautiful parents, all my beautiful best friends. 

“It was so good in the cool room because we were all just chilling and that’s just what I love about these Games  - we were all just chatting about life and then we all go out on to the track and we’re just like “Oh let’s go and have some fun guys”. It was so fun.

“I couldn’t be more honoured to represent the green and gold, it’s just such a privilege and the even more amazing thing is I’m inspiring my younger teammates, my younger cousins coming along and hopefully we can all be in the same team in Brisbane 2032.

Earlier in the day Calab Law backed up his 100m gold, cruising into the 200m final with the fastest time of the semi-finals.

Teammates Samantha Dale and Katie Gunn topped the long jump qualification, heading into the finals 1-2 with jumps of 6.29m and 5.82m respectively.

Boxing – Six wins from six in great semi-final day

Australia continued its unbeaten run in the boxing at the Olympic qualifying event, with three men and three women progressing through semi-finals today.

Tiana Echegaray (54kg), Tyla McDonald (60kg), Caitlin Parker (75kg), Charlie Senior (57kg), Callum Peters (80kg) and Adrian Paoletti (92kg) all won through to the Olympic qualifying finals scheduled for Friday.

Tiana started the day with a unanimous victory over Chirstine Gillespie, meaning the Australian is just one fight away from qualifying for Paris 2024 – in a sport she only started four years ago.

“I’m so happy to get that first one out of the way, the nerves were massive,” Tiana said. “I could feel it in the ring, I felt really hot all of a sudden, losing my legs. But I just tried to keep moving, stoked to get the win and move onto the final.

“The support from back home is so amazing, more than I ever could have imagined. I think especially because I didn’t grow up as an elite athlete, it was a bit of a surprise for people to hear I’m going for the Olympics.

“I started boxing quite late, as a 26-year-old - four years ago I wanted a change up from gym, because I just find normal gym sessions so boring.

“I started boxing, my curiosity just sparked up about it – there’s so much to the sport, and I met a lot of badass ladies in boxing, I thought ‘Oh my god they look so cool, I want to try to be like them.’ I signed up to a gym, met such a great community through the sport and met a fantastic coach – shoutout to Anton Shalom in Redfern! He showed me the ropes, and I went from trying boxing for the first time at 26 years old in 2019, and now one fight away from qualifying for the Olympics. It’s been a massive few years, it’s still so crazy to me.

“This year has been the biggest year of my life, I’m so grateful to have found boxing when I did – I really trust the timing of my life I think I found it at the right time. Seeing young fighters like (20-year-old) Tyla McDonald, I couldn’t imagine fighting at that age, I take my hat off to all the incredible young boxers on our team.”

Tyla dispatched Baby Nansen of Samoa with a unanimous decision before Caitlin Parker was pushed to the edge in a split decision win over Tongan Eseta Natasha Flint.

“I trained so, so hard for this, every day I’ve put so much into this,” Caitlin said. “I’m so fit, everything’s coming together technically and tactically. I felt a bit tired out there in the heat and humidity, but I know I’ve got that first one out of the way – now I put everything I’ve got into the final.

“She gave a great fight, she had a long reach with her height advantage, she used her jab really effectively, I’m so happy to get a tough, hard fight out of the way and move onto the finals.

“I love my team so much, we’re all so tight. It’s so amazing to see how each and every one of us get around each other, it’s like they’re all in the ring with me. It’s great to hear a loud crowd and my teammates, I’m just so happy to get my hand raised, one step closer to getting that Paris quota spot.”

On the men’s side, Charlie Senior took down Alex Mukuka of New Zealand in a unanimous decision, doing an in-ring backflip to celebrate the victory.

“I’m so glad to get the first one done and dusted, the first one’s always the hardest,” Charlie said. “I feel once I get my range and start knowing I can land when I want, I feel comfortable.

“I normally start slow, which isn’t great in three-round fights, so coach has been helping me start quicker, to up my pace and win these first rounds.

“The celebration flip - it’s not an every fight thing, sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t, but I thought ‘I’m at the Pacific Games, I might as well throw one out there.”

Callum Peters then took on Fijian Aminiasi Saratibau, a fighter known for his impressive power.

“I feel like he was one of the hardest guys in our draw – he’s a strong boy, I tried to come off my angles, work his body to slow him down,” Callum said. 

“I felt really good out there, he caught me a good one in the first round, I thought I probably shouldn’t let him do that. 

“I had to try and be quick, you don’t want to stand still when you’ve got someone that hits that hard. I like to bang on, but not for today, I’ve got another fight to win in two days, mum and dad wouldn’t be happy!

“I’m pumped for the next one. It’s time to recover, eat, sleep and repeat – I’m focused on what’s coming up next in two days’ time.”

Adrian Paoletti finished the Aussie day of dominance with another unanimous decision, against Kiwi Malcolm Mathes.

The remaining Aussies will take to the ring for their semi-final bouts tomorrow.

Beach Volleyball – Aussies top pool with another three wins

Australia continued their winning start to the beach volleyball competition, with Ben Hood and D’Artagnan Potts notching a 21-10, 21-12 win over Wallis & Futuna and a 21-12, 21-16 defeat of Fiji, with Stefie Fejes and Jana Milutinovic winning 21-16, 21-9 against Fiji.

With both teams topping their pools, they will progress straight through to the quarter-finals, with their opponents determined to win in the round of 12 playoffs tomorrow morning.

The men’s pairing of Ben and D’Artagnan were happy to improve throughout each of their three games so far.

“We’re definitely playing up to our best at the moment, a few things to work on but definitely improving every match,” Ben said.

“We’ve watched a few of the games of the other pools, there are some really good teams around, we’ll have to keep playing our best if we want to go far in the tournament.”

D’Artagnan was happy to go through as top of the pool.

“Our consistency has gone up 100 fold from yesterday,” he said. “I think that will help carry us through the rest of the tournament.”

Both teams have progressed straight to the final eight and will find their quarter-final opponents after the round of 12 playoff games tomorrow.

Sailing – Aussies to battle it out for podium finishes

ILCA-7 sailors Tom Farley and Isaac Schotte topped the leaderboard across three split-fleet races today, squaring off in the same half of the fleet for the first time this regatta.

Isaac took two firsts and a second, with Tom the corresponding two seconds and a first for a trio of Aussie 1-2 finishes.

Sailboarders Amelia Wilson and Charlotte Wormald had a tight tussle on the water, with Amelia notching a third and three fourths, while Charlotte took a fifth and three thirds. The duo are currently locked in a tight battle for the bronze medal position with three more days of racing to come.

Day 10 events

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