Mini Games officially underway

Koror, Palau—The long wait is finally over.

Yesterday marked the opening of the 2005 Palau South Pacific Mini Games as over 1,400 athletes, coaches, and officials from various countries marched their way into the Palau National Track and Field facility to kick off the 2005 opening ceremony.

The skies were still covered with thick and gray clouds; however, Mother Nature seems to be cooperating, holding rains from drenching the event.

While the host country is well represented with athletes in all sports, even members of the community expressed their excitement and support of the Games, with well over 600 individuals participating in carrying the Mini Games torch around the country.

According to executive director of the Games Susan Ngirausui, the torch relay began early Saturday morning featuring handoffs around Babeldaub. The journey began in the state of Airai, with runners handing off to the next individual in line and the torch making its way around the island, eventually stopping at the entrance to Koror, where it remained until around 3:30pm yesterday.

The flame was then brought to the track facility, where it was used to light up a larger torch, which will remain lit until the closing ceremony.

The ceremony was scheduled to begin at 5pm, featuring various cultural performances, remarks from Palau President Tommy Remengesau, as well as other VIPs.

Meanwhile, the 129-strong CNMI delegation was led into the track oval by 13-year-old swimmer Amanda Johnson, the youngest member of the delegation.

Johnson was selected during a coaches meeting Saturday night, in wherein coaches from all participating CNMI teams decided on who will have the honor of being the team’s flag bearer. After brief discussion, the coaches decided to give that honor to the youngest member of the delegation.

“That’s pretty cool and I feel kind of important so its awesome,” Johnson said while sporting a smile on her face yesterday. “I am very excited and felt very proud [because] I didn’t expect this at all. I was happy and caught by surprise and my teammates were supportive and were very happy for me.”

Johnson said she received the news during a swim team meeting Saturday night.

“Coach told the whole group [Saturday],” she said. “He walked into the room and just got a team meeting and just told us that I was going to carry the flag.”

Meanwhile, all CNMI teams already residing at the Palau Community College continued with preparations, each getting another round of practice before the 5pm ceremony.

Each team also had a member present at its technical committee meeting, where scheduling and draws were announced.

The swimmers had their competition start early this morning at the Palau National Swimming Pool in Meyuns; the men’s baseball squad battles host Palau today at 1:30pm at the Asahi Baseball Field; the men’s fast pitch softball team takes on Guam at the softball field in Meyuns, with the men playing at 1:30pm and the women having their moment at 4pm; NMI athletics begin their push at 7pm, and tennis player take on the Solomon Islands in team competition. Time schedule for tennis was to be announced after dinner last night.

Tennis coach and captain Jeff Race, who captained the Pacific Oceania Davis Cup team that included Solomon Islands Michael Leong, explained that he feels Team CNMI can win the battle.

“They have the No. 1 Davis Cup player in Michael Leong, so that will be a tough match, but I think we should be stronger at the No. 2 position, which means we probably would split the singles and I think that we may have the more balanced doubles team,” he said, citing that a doubles match will be the deciding factor as to who wins the challenge if the teams split the singles. “I’m hopeful we can give the Solomon Islands a run and maybe come out on top if we can play well in the doubles. [But] Michael Leong is a kind of player that can take over a match, even on the doubles court, so we’ll just have to see where it goes.”

The girls’ tennis team, meanwhile, is seeded third out of seven teams and also faces Solomon Islands. The team comprises of Amanda Weindl and Kana Aikawa.

“Obviously because we’re seeded, we should be able to win that team competition,” Race said.

The CNMI beach volleyball team would also make its debut today when it faces Wallis & Futuna beginning at noon.

Also, CNMI chef de mission Michael White encouraged all teams to support each other.

“Go out and cheer for teams playing if you’re not playing on that day or have nothing to do,” he said during the coaches meeting. “Coaches, if you have free time, get your players to go out there and cheer for the other teams.”

Green light for start of play

Ngirausui also confirmed yesterday that all venues are “ready to go.”

“We were very busy but we met all the deadlines,” she said. “The weather sort of slowed us from completing certain things during those time, but as we speak, they’re all ready to be used for play [today]. We’re all ready for the Games.”

Ngirausui reiterated that preparations began “as soon as we got the bid in 2000.”

“They’re all ready and set, and we’re all excited and waiting for the games to start,” she added.