Junior netters salvage win in doubles

HONIARA, Solomon Islands—The NMI Men’s National Tennis Team and the NMI Men’s National Soccer Team were the first to see some action for the delegation last Friday and Saturday before the official start of the 2023 Pacific Games.

Tennis’ first match was a team matchup against Vanuatu’s singles and doubles team on a bright and sunny Hapi Islands weather at the tennis courts in the main sports complex of the Games.

Despite not having a bite of lunch yet and battling the raging heat, junior netters Nason Wessel and June Yu put on a show and in less than 30 minutes, shut down Vanuatu’s Jean Pierre Andre and Roberto Wong, 4-0, 4-1, to snag a win in the doubles men’s match.

Wessel and Yu’s chemistry on the court surprised even their coach and the opposing team as Wessel’s strong serves and Yu’s well-placed and accurate returns complemented each other well to end the match quickly and not leave the first day of matches empty handed.

In the singles matches earlier in the morning, Moris Villanueva lost to Fintan Malbaleh, 4-5, 1-4, and playing coach Colin Ramsey fell to Zachary Sands, 2-4, 1-4, for a 1-2 overall loss in the team tennis matches last Friday.

Villanueva started off strong against the young 16-year-old, as it was a tug-of-war of points throughout the first set, but Malbaleh came bouncing back in the last set to finish off a clearly exhausted Villanueva.

For Ramsey, his matchup against Sands was a tough one as Sands had a strong serve that popped up sharply each time which got the better of Ramsey. The matches were played in short sets and Ramsey could not adjust quickly enough to make a comeback.

After the match, Ramsey said that the boys are happy to come out and play, and he’s happy to see it. He said Wessel and Yu controlled their doubles match and “they didn’t feel any pressure against Vanuatu which historically has a really good record against us, so I’m pretty elated that the boys got to experience that. They got to notch their first win from their first competition and I think that’s awesome. And with Moris, I know he has that grinder mentality where he’s not going to give up ‘til that last point.”

On his own performance, Ramsey said, “Obviously, there were some nerves going into the competition. I think everybody feels that, but I am definitely better equipped than I was before to deal with those. I thought I played really well—really solid from back and from the net. There was nothing that he had that really scared me and that just kind of gives me confidence going forward, even though I came out with a loss. I’m feeling very good about where I’m at.”

For Wessel and Yu, they said the experience of their first Pacific Games has been good so far and they felt great after winning their match. Wessel said, “I feel like we did pretty good in the doubles and I’m looking forward to the singles matches.”

Villanueva, who hasn’t competed on the big stage in a while said, “It was really great. To be honest, I did not feel a lot of pressure. I just went out there to learn and take what I can get from different countries and I feel like I’ve been learning a lot these past few days.”

He added, “Vanuatu’s a tough team. They’re very well-funded in terms of tennis… we kind of don’t have as much as they do, but I’m glad we get to at least compete even if we don’t have our A-Team right now.”

The tennis team is competing against No. 1 seed Tahiti today and Ramsey expects it will be a tough one. He said he actually knows how one of their players, Heimanarii Lai San, plays.

On Saturday evening, the men’s soccer team consisting of mostly young student-athletes, debuted in the Pacific Games and fell to world No. 170 Fiji, 0-10. The crowd was electric and it was a full house as it was a battle of mixed cheers for team Fiji and team NMI at the SIFF Academy 1.

A much bigger, faster, and more experienced Fiji team controlled the ball throughout most of the match—with only a few pushes into Fiji’s goal by NMI strikers Markus Toves and Tyler Omelau.

A spectator shared he was shocked that Fiji—a team of pro football players managed to score just 10 goals—as the young NMI team displayed great tenacity at defending their goal.

Fiji’s star striker Roy Krishina was among those who collected goals with a hat-trick as NMI goalkeeper Merrick Toves was caught off guard with a couple of Fiji’s attacks at the net. Emotions were shown but he maintained his composure and made a couple of spectacular jumping saves and held them down to just 10 goals amidst a barrage of attacks by Fiji’s main strikers.

NMI’s defenders also tried their best to have Toves’ back as their main play throughout the match was to defend their goal. Only toward the last few moments of the match did NMI’s offense have a couple of opportunities at Fiji’s net, but a last-ditch attempt to get NMI on the board by Markus Toves, who was passed the ball by Leland Deleon Guerrero, was a bit way off.

NMI’s next game is on Friday, Nov. 24 against Tahiti at 7pm Solomon Islands time and 6pm Saipan time.

Merrick Toves said throughout the match, he was trying to maintain focus and make sure that no more goals get in. “I was also trying to communicate with my teammates and help my team to keep going and to not stop. Also, try to focus every single minute of the game and follow the ball wherever it goes.”

As to what was going on his mind after every nipped goal, Toves, who showed emotion on the pitch, said, “As a goalkeeper, me and Christopher Aninzo, (another NMI goalkeeper, but is not part of the Pacific Games team), we try to think how we can do better next time and also try to not let it affect it. At some point in the game, it kind of does affect us and bring us down, but we do try our best to not let that get in our mind, just focus on the game, and try not to let more goals in.”

Head coach Michiteru Mita was grateful for the opportunity, the experience and exposure for the young team in their debut in the Pacific.

“It was a great experience. We had a young team play against a strong team, so it was another great international opportunity. We learned a lot and our objective now is to get better and better. We have more games so we just need to keep our heads up and continue to work hard,” he said.

As for their debut in the Pacific Games, he said it’s a totally new environment. “The tournament format is totally different and so is everything else, but it’s a great opportunity for us, as a national team, to play against strong countries. I just appreciate that we are given this opportunity.”

Today, swimming and weightlifting kicks off with Piper Raho competing in the 400m freestyle and Ray Santos competing in the 55kg category.

Swimming will run until Nov. 25, while weightlifting is until Nov. 24.

Golf is from Nov. 22 to 25; Beach volleyball is set from Nov. 27 to Dec. 2; bodybuilding is slated on Nov. 27; triathlon is scheduled from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1; va’a is from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1.