NMI’s Honiara haul now at 7 medals
Swimmer Isaiah Aleksenko reigned supreme in the men’s 200m butterfly event in the 2023 Pacific Games Wednesday night in Honiara, sSolomon Islands to give Team Marianas’ its second gold and seventh medal overall.
Aleksenko smoked six other competitors in the four-lap swim both in the preliminaries Wednesday morning and in the finals last night to live up to expectations. The 17-year-old was the fastest in the preliminary race after clocking in at 2:08.96, about five seconds ahead of New Caledonia’s Baptiste Savignac. Aleksenko returned to the pool for the finale and swam even faster with a time of 2:05.86 to clinch the gold medal. The NMI swimmer touched the wall nearly four seconds ahead of Tahiti’s Nale Roux (2:09.52). Savignac fell to third in the finals to settle for bronze with his time of 2:11.80.
The gold in the 200m butterfly is Aleksenko’s second individual and third overall. Last Tuesday night, Aleksenko teamed up with Kean Pajarillaga, Taiyo Akimaru, and Juhn Tenorio in winning a bronze medal in the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay event. Last Monday night, Aleksenko got his first medal when he finished third in the men’s 100m butterfly.
Meanwhile, three others NMI swimmers raced in the finals of their respective events on Day 3 of the swimming competition.
Pajarillaga and Tenorio were finalists in the men’s 200m backstroke after submitting 2:16.40 and 2:19.91, respectively in the prelims. Pajarillaga’s time is his new personal best, eclipsing his 2:16.69. In the women’s 200m backstroke, Shoko Litulumar advanced to the finals after recording 2:43.93.
Santos leads NMI’s bid in golf
The opening round of the golf competitions kicked off yesterday at the Honiara Golf Club with Franco Santos posting the best scores for NMI golfers.
Santos shot a 5-over 77 for a share of sixth place in with Papua New Guinea’s Gideon Tikili and Fiji’s Asish Chand. New Caledonia’s Guillaume Castagne leads the pack with an impressive 5-under 67. Santos and his fellow NMI golfers—Ben Jones, Joe “Kamikaze” Camacho, and Joe Sasamoto—teed off Wednesday morning, while the team’s lone female entry, Zhimin Jin, played the opening round in the afternoon and her scores were unavailable at press time.
Sasamoto hit a 9-over 81, Jones tallied a 10-over 82, and Camacho recorded a 14-over 86. In the team event, the NMI totaled 38-over 326 for fifth place out of eight squads. New Caledonia leads the team category with its 3-over 291.
Golfers will play four rounds to determine the medalists in the individual and team events.
3 win opener in tennis
Moris Villanueva, Colin Ramsey, and June Yu won their opening matches in the men’s singles event yesterday.
Villanueva swept Nauru’s Addi Dallas, 6-2, 6-2, to advance to the second round where he will face the No. 12 seed Samoa’s Marvin Soonalole. Colin Ramsey also needed only two sets to down Tonga’s Otufangavalu Noa, 6-4, 6-1, and set up and Round 2 tiff against No. 3 seed Camden Camacho. June Yu is the third NMI player to reach the second round following a 6-1, 6-4 triumph over Tuvalu’s Felo Feoto. Yu will be up against No. 11 seed Leon Soonalole of Samoa.
The NMI missed a sweep in the opener in the men’s singles when Nason Wessel lost a tough three-setter to Vanuatu’s Jeane Pierre Andrew, 2-6, 6-4, 3-6.
In other events, two weightlifters will compete today at the Maranatha Hall. Angel San Nicolas will be competing in the 102kg class at 9:00 (Saipan time), while Antonette Labausa’s lifts in the women’s 81kg will start at 11:30am.
After last Wednesday’s competitions, Team Marianas kept its Top 10 spot in the medal standings with its 2 golds, 1 silver, and 4 bronzes. New Caledonia is still on top with an 18-15-21 gold-silver-bronze tally. Team Marianas’ participation in this year’s Pacific Games is supported by the Joeten Daidai Foundation, Triple J, Crowne Plaza Resort, IT&E, IP&E, Tan Siu Lin Foundation, Mobil, Tan Holdings, and McDonald’s of Guam & Saipan. (PR)
Medal standing
