Upon completion of day 2 of the table tennis events at the 2011 Pacific Games, the host nation New Caledonia is assured of a place in the Women’s Team event final.
After defeating Tahiti yesterday evening in a nail biting encounter, they continued on their winning ways as they overcame Vanuatu by six matches to three in this evenings match. Vanuatu made the better start to the duel as seventeen year old defender Stephanie Qwea recorded a career best victory over leading Pacific female player Ornella Bouteille in four games. Following this Anolyn Lulu extended the Vanuatu advantage when she defeated Fabianna Faehau in straight games. From here though New Caledonia rallied to claim the next four matches. Alexandra Heraclide proved too strong for both Pareina Matariki and Stephanie Qwea, Ornella Bouteille won by the narrowest of margins against Anolyn Lulu, and Fabianna Faehau defeated Pareina Matariki. A New Caledonian victory was assured when Ornella Bouteille won in straight games over Pareina Matariki, and in doing so New Caledonia are assured of their place in the final tomorrow evening.
Although the host nation has to play Fiji tomorrow morning in the last round robin match, they are undefeated at the moment and cannot be toppled from qualifying for the final.
The other place in the final is still up for grabs between Tahiti and Vanuatu. They will play off in the morning, for the winner they will have a chance to claim gold tomorrow evening, for the loser a bronze medal will be the best they can hope for.
This evening Tahiti was in very impressive form as they outclassed Fiji by eight matches to one. Tahiti number one Melveen Richmond didn’t drop a game en route to defeating all of Julia Koi, Carolyn Xuan Li, and Leighann Antonio. Likewise the pint sized Taurikirau Thunot claimed three victories for the evening. To top off the success of Tahiti, fourteen year old Tina Mii continued her impressive form from day one as she accounted for both Leighann Antonio and Julia Koi. The only joy for Fiji came when Carolyn Xuan Li defeated Tina Mii in the last match of the evening.
For Fiji, they will be left to fight it out for the bronze medal tomorrow afternoon, as they have lost against both Fiji and Tahiti to date. Even if they could topple New Caledonia tomorrow morning it still wouldn’t be enough to see them advance to the final. However, winning a bronze medal is much better than going home empty handed, so they will be fighting every step of the way.
By this time tomorrow night, the first gold medal at the 2011 Pacific Games will have been decided – action, intensity, and glory awaits!
Last Modified on 06/09/2011 12:52