Results for Tongan athletes

The ‘Ikale Tahi have won their first European test match, defeating Spain 28 – 13. The determined Spaniards gave the boys a run for their money, and were leading 3 – 0 in the 30th minute of the match. The ‘Ikale Tahi scored four converted tries in the form of Dan Faleafa, Fetu’u Vainikolo, Sonatane Takulua and Kali Hala. All tries were successfully converted by Sona Takulua.

Taione Vea has announced his retirement from professional rugby two months after suffering a spinal injury during a rugby match. The 27-year-old Prop who plays for the Newcastle Falcons in the English Aviva Premiership said, “I was left paralyzed for five or six minutes on the field, where I couldn’t feel my whole body. That is enough for anybody in a lifetime, and the risk of that happening again if I was to return to playing is quite high.”

Former Mate Ma’a Tonga centre Solomone Kata will debut for New Zealand this Saturday October 15 against Australia in Perth. The Vava’u born 23-year-old was the top try scorer for his NRL team the New Zealand Warriors this year, scoring 15 tries in 21 games in the 2016 NRL season. He was announced as part of the Kiwis squad last week.

Kasete Naufahu Skeen’s dream of becoming the first Tongan alpine skier in the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang is now his goal, after he recently quit his full time job to focus solely on skiing. He has launched a crowdfunding campaign to cover his training and estimates his Olympic campaign will cost at least £50,000.

Waving national flags in support of Tonga's Team at the Rio 2016 Olympics, Tongan supporters and sponsors organised a colourful float parade through central Nuku’alofa today, Tuesday 16 August - complete with dark, muscular men with oiled bodies. Photos by Linny Folau and Peter Poulsen.

“Good on Fiji! It’s something they’ve worked on - they have planned for and deliberately and methodically worked their way up to being our Olympic Gold medalists, so it’s not totally surprising to me,” said the Pacific Islands first Olympic medalist, Paea Wolfgramm today. "Fiji have done it the right way they’ve concentrated on building the sport up in their country," he told Matangi Tonga.

A parade to celebrate Tongan medalists who completed in the 2015 Pacific Games and 2015 Special Olympics in July was held this afternoon 2 September, in Nuku’alofa.

Archers, Lusitania Tatafu and Arne Jensen, are Tonga's hope for qualified athletes to represent the country at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games (YOG), in Nanjing, China in August.