Two sport climbers have booked Australia to again feature in the Olympic sport climbing competition in Paris, after the inaugural competition at Tokyo 2020, plus Min Woo Lee took out his first Australian Major at the Royal Queensland Golf Club.
Sport Climbing – Oceania Championships produces Paris 2024 qualification for Aussies
Oceania Mackenzie and Campbell Harrison are the first sport climbers to qualify Australia for the Paris 2024 Olympics after they won the boulder & lead competition at the Oceania Climbing Championships in Melbourne on Saturday.
Oceania, a Tokyo 2020 Olympian, topped all scorers in the women’s semi-finals and the final by a wide margin. She was most impressive in the final, scoring 199.9 points out of a possible 200. Her next closest rival in the final was Maya Stasiuk (AUS) on 155.7 points.
Campbell Harrison, a 26-year-old from Brunswick East in Victoria, is one step closer to making an Olympic debut 154.1 point performance in the men’s boulder and lead final.
Golf - Min Woo Lee wins first Australian PGA Championship
It was pure joy for Min Woo Lee at the Australian PGA Championship in Brisbane, who won the Joe Kirkwood Cup with a three-stroke lead at the Royal Queensland Golf Club on Sunday.
Scoring 20-under for the tournament, Min Woo was clear of runner up Rikuya Hoshino (JPN) at 17-under and fast-finishing Tokyo 2020 Olympian Marc Leishman, coming in third at 16-under after a 7-under 64 on the final day.
The ranking points that come with Min Woo’s win has the West Australian projected to reach a career-high ranking of no.38 in the world.
Judo – Maeve Coughlan captures Hong Kong Open gold
Maeve Coughlan has rebounded from an injury interrupted 2023 with a gold medal at the Hong Kong Asian Open.
Competing in the women’s -63kg class Maeve collected her second gold medal of the year, the first of which came at the Taipei Asian Open in July.
The event also capped off a big week for Danny Vojnikovic. Five days after the 20-year-old Aussie won gold at the Solomon Islands 2023 Pacific Games in the -90kg division, he was in Hong Kong and claimed a silver medal – his first senior medal at a competition outside Oceania.
Tennis – Davis Cup final heartbreak
The Australian Davis Cup team powered themselves into the Davis Cup final in Spain for a second-consecutive year, but were second-best to Italy as the Azzurri claimed their first title in 47 years on Sunday.
Coming into the final off the back of a 2-0 victory against Finland in the semi-finals, Australia’s Alex de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin had a chance to bring the trophy Down Under 20 years after its last stay in 2003.
Standing in the way of an Australian triumph was world no.4 Jannik Sinner (ITA) and Matteo Arnaldi (ITA).
Arnaldi needed three sets to get Italy the first win over Alexei, 7-5 2-6 6-4, and Sinner sealed the Davis Cup title with a dominant 6-3 6-0 display against Alex de Minaur.
Beach Volleyball - Aussie pairs win Beach Pro Tour event in Geelong
Australia has finished on top of the ladder in the men’s and women’s finals of the Beach Pro Tour in Geelong on Sunday.
Birmingham Commonwealth Games gold medallist Paul Burnett took home his first Beach Pro Tour gold, with new teammate Jack Pearse who is covering for regular partner Chris McHugh. They defeated New Zealand’s Thomas Reid and John McManaway in straight sets 2:0 (21-14, 21-13).
“It’s never easy to win that last match of the tournament and get the gold… so really happy and a great way to finish the year,” Paul said.
“As soon as next year comes round it’s go, go, go… we want to get two men’s teams into the Paris Olympic Games and that is what everyone is working towards as a squad and hopefully we can achieve that.”
The women’s gold medal match closed out the day, with Queensland’s Jasmine Fleming and Georgia Johnson defeating Canada’s Aly/Katie.
Pacific Games – Young Aussies sail to gold
Australia won two gold, a silver and a bronze medal in the Pacific Games sailing competition on Saturday, with the young sailing team revelling in the international regatta opportunity.
Eighteen-year-old Evie Saunders won gold in the ILCA-6 class, also taking home gold in the team event with Ellen Sampson, while sailboarder Lachlan Vize won silver, also taking home bronze with teammate Jarrod Jones in the team event.
Earlier in the week Australian archers Laura Paeglis and Ryan Tyack won a mixed team quota for the Paris 2024 Olympics with their win at the Pacific Games.
The Solomon Islands 2023 Pacific Games continues today (Monday) from 10am AEDT, with medal events in the women’s 100m and men’s javelin throw.
Follow the action on social media and keep up with the schedule and results here.
Hockey – Brisbane Blaze crowned women’s and men’s Hockey One League champions
Brisbane Blaze is the toast of Australian hockey after claiming both the women’s and men’s Hockey One League 2023 titles at the National Hockey Centre in Canberra on Sunday night.
The Blaze women defeated Canberra Chill 4-1 before the men’s grand final was decided by a shootout, Brisbane edging out defending champions NSW Pride 5-3 after it finished 3-3 at full-time.
