By Tupou Vaipulu Jr.
Tonga is bringing home two gold medals from the 2023 Pacific Games after the national netball team, Tala, won gold after defeating the Fiji Pearls, at Friendship Hall in Honiara, on Saturday, 2 December.
Tonga netball finally achieved its goal of becoming Sol2023 Pacific Games champions for the first time. Up until now, only two nations – Fiji and Cook Islands – had ever won the Pacific Games netball tournament.
A very happy Tonga captain, Hulita Veve, said to come out on top four years on from the Samoa 2019 Pacific Games was satisfying.
“We never expected to win this gold. We came out fighting – we both wanted to win, and to have it in our favour in the end is indeed sweet and refreshing. It was an inspiring end to a beautiful tournament,” she said.
Tonga also bagged 8 Silver medals and 9 Bronze medals, according to the SOL2023 official website.
New Caledonia won the 2023 Pacific Games with an overwhelming 197 medals at SOL2023.
The Pacific Games Council president, Vidhya Lakhan, said yesterday, 4 December 2023, that the 17th Pacific Games in Honiara was a success.
Athletes representing 24 teams from the south and west Pacific region competed in the 2023 Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands from 19 November to 2 December.
Some 346 medal events were held across 27 sports disciplines, with competitions in archery and boxing serving as Olympic qualifiers, with Paris 2024 quotas on the line.
