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24th December
Tough call : Doge shuns lucrative offers for Drua, RWC
NADROGA native Mesake Doge has sacrificed lucrative overseas contracts to pursue his dream of representing the Flying Fijians in the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France by joining the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua for Shop...
2 snooker events on same date
SNOOKER players who are wishing to enter the World Snooker Federation Championships (WSFC) which will be held in Australia next month have been offered a chance to participate in the World Professional Billiards Snooker Association Championship (WPBSA) as well. The WSFC will be held in Australia from January 31 to February 11 next year and...
Doge banks on support of Fiji fans
SWIRE Shipping Fijian Drua prop Mesake Doge expects fans to turn up in large numbers to support the team during its six home matches in the 2023 Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific competition. The Fijian Drua will face the Crusaders on March 11 (Lautoka), Rebels on April 1 (Suva), Blues on April 29 (Lautoka),...
Top gun part of event
FIJI’S top amateur player Abid Hussain will be part of the two person Ambrose event that will be played at the Nadi Airport Golf Club Course next Monday. Veteran Ram Khelawan and Joeli Kotoisuva will also participate in the tournament. NAGC executive Mark Hinton said it would be a nine holes event. He said the...
Players’ families visit Drua home base
THE families of Swire Shipping Fijian Drua players visited the team base camp in Legalega, Nadi earlier this month. They were shown the working environment that the players were in. Fijian Drua head coach Mick Byrne said it was like a parent teacher show as the players were on the field. “It was good to...
Aussie teams to play : Coral Coast 7s organisers confirm Aust women’s A, schoolboys sides
AFTER the forced hiatus because of the global pandemic, the return to the Fijian sporting landscape of the premier 7s event in the South Pacific, the 11th annual McDonald’s Fiji’s Coral Coast Sevens, the tournament is thrilled to announce that Rugby Australia has confirmed that both the Australian A Women’s team and Australian Schoolboys team...
23rd December
Pearls hunt for players
NETBALL Fiji has expanded its search for eligible players in elite competitions in Australia, New Zealand and the UK to represent the Fiji Pearls at the 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa. Players playing in New Zealand’s ANZ Premiership and national league, the Suncorp Super Netball league and state teams in Australia,...
Hensel breaks 16-year record
FIJI swimmer Hansel McCaig set two national records during the 16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) 2022 in Melbourne, Australia last week. McCaig broke a 16-year record that was held by Olympian Carl Probert in the men’s 100 metres freestyle. Probert’s time of 50.18 seconds was smashed by 19-year-old Hansel with a time of 49.73s....
Yao wins Natadola
TOM Yao carded an even par 72 to take out the overall gross title during the Geckos Trucking Natadola Bay Open Golf Championship. Yao, who is one of Fiji’s leading amateur golfers, will now move his career to the US. Wayne Downs won the overall net title scoring 64. Natadola Bay Championship Course operations director...
Levuka club youths by Cikamatana’s feat
THE achievements of weightlifter Eileen Cikamatana on the world stage is having a rippling effect on youths from her township in Levuka. With not much support, 17 lifters from the Levuka Satellite Training Centre are in Suva competing in the National Club Championships at the National Fitness Centre. Club coach Sade Ere Vira said most...
Young Vira shows talent
EIGHT-YEAR-OLD Sera Vira was the youngest weightlifter during the National Club Championship held at the National Fitness Centre in Suva yesterday. Vira was part of a 17-member squad from Levuka and she had her moments to showcase what she had learnt over the past four months. She hails from Baba Village in Levuka and was...
New players adjusting, bring a lot talent, says Byrne
THE new players in the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua squad have a lot of talent but are still in the learning process for the 2023 Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific competition. The new players to watch in 2023 Fijian squad include former Melbourne Rebels squad member Emosi Tuqiri and impressive centre Michael Naitokani (Swire...
Students visit Eden Park, Blues
A GROUP of Year 13 students of Levuka Public School on Ovalau visited the iconic Eden Park in New Zealand where they were greeted by players from the Auckland Blues rugby franchise. Among the players was Auckland Blues hooker Sowane Vikena who has maternal links to Ovalau. Vikena took the group on a tour of...
Macuata to lift game
THE Macuata Rugby Union has tabled a new program for players during the off-season with a squad expected to be named this week. Union chairman Maikali Drauna said this was new and needed to be done to ensure that their performance in next year’s Skipper Cup tournament was up to par. Compared with past years...
Lifters record personal bests
WEIGHTLIFTERS recorded some personal bests during the National Club Championship at the National Fitness Centre in Laucal Bay, Suva yesterday. National coach Henry Elder said majority of the lifters put on their best performances to date. He said two athletes joining the Suva Weightlifting Club, Elizabeth Chute and Karen Vulaca, proved their worth. “Looking at...
Tag rugby receives big turnout
THE tag rugby program held in Labasa yesterday for primary school students received an overwhelming turnout. In the hope of instilling not just basic rugby skills but good characters in the young players, Rugby Academy Fiji founder Seremaia Bai said the program covered a wide area. “It’s not just about teaching these young players about...
Drua squad boosted
THE inclusion of the Flying Fijians players has boosted the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua squad for the 2023 Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific competition. Flying Fijians prop Mesake Doge has returned home from Europe (Dragons and Brive), bringing in valuable experience to the Drua front row. Fijian Drua head coach Mick Byrne said the...
Brazil soccer star Pele to spend Christmas in hospital as cancer advances
(Reuters) -Brazilian soccer legend Pele’s cancer has advanced and he requires care related to renal and cardiac dysfunction, according to a medical report, and his family said he would remain in a Sao Paulo hospital over Christmas. Widely considered one of the greatest footballers of all time, the 82-year-old has been hospitalized in the Albert...
Messi the greatest even without World Cup heroics, says Guardiola
(Reuters) – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has no doubt that Lionel Messi is the greatest player of all time and his opinion would not change even if the forward had not guided Argentina to the World Cup title in Qatar, the Spaniard said on Wednesday. Messi scored two goals and again in the shootout...
Former FIFA head Blatter: Failed to protect soccer from interference
BERLIN (Reuters) – Sepp Blatter, the former president of FIFA, said he had been unable to protect soccer from political and business interference in an interview with German weekly Die Zeit. Blatter, who led FIFA for 17 years, said he had “tried to control the business” but had repeatedly failed “because of the economic value...
UEFA warns UK/Ireland Euro 2028 bid – report
(Reuters) – UEFA is growing frustrated over delays in guarantees around the joint UK and Ireland bid to host the 2028 European Championship in 2028, Britain’s Times newspaper reported on Wednesday. Issues around delaying guarantees for policing, airports, tax exemptions and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium have forced European soccer’s governing body to warn bid organisers,...
Russia’s Antyukh loses Olympic gold after not appealing ban
(Reuters) – Banned Russian athlete and 2012 Olympic 400 metres hurdles champion Natalia Antyukh will lose her gold medal from the London Games after she did not appeal her doping ban, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Wednesday. The 41-year-old won the 400 metres hurdles title at the 2012 Olympics defeating American Lashinda Demus,...
Morocco welcomes team
RABAT, Morocco — Tens of thousands of jubilant Moroccans welcomed their national soccer team home Tuesday after the players exceeded the North African nation’s wildest expectations and finished fourth at the World Cup in Qatar. Fans packed squares and lined up along avenues and streets in and around Rabat, lighting flares, waving flags, dancing to...
22nd December
Demand for gear spikes
LONDON – In the wake of Sunday’s World Cup final soccer fans around the world have rushed to buy merchandise, with demand for Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe soccer club jerseys more than tripling, sports merchandise retailer Fanatics Inc told Reuters. Argentina beat France 4-2 on penalties after a dramatic 3-3 draw, with Messi scoring...
Fans jam streets : World Cup heroes forced to abandon bus parade
BUENOS AIRES – Argentina’s World Cup heroes had to abandon an open-top bus parade in Bueno Aires on Tuesday as millions of ecstatic fans flooded onto the streets and brought the city to a standstill, with Lionel Messi and his team mates whisked into helicopters to complete the planned celebrations. The players who were triumphant...
No more than 2 title bouts
THE Boxing Commission of Fiji will not allow more than two title fights on a programme to give different promoters an equal chance to showcase their events. There was a proposal by the South Pacific Boxing Promotion to allow for four title bouts per programme to make events lively and better for boxers with bigger...
Junior rugby event hailed
THE Junior Escott Mini Tourney hosted by the Suva Rugby Union has set the platform for young players to have more game time. Covenant rugby coach Ro Seru Bilivanua said this kind of competition gave game time to young players during the school holidays. A total of eight teams took part from the under-14 to...
Sports Feature : Madigi and his lethal ‘lefty’
IF Ravuama Madigi had just but one wish which could be granted to him, it would be to re-live the year of 1988. This was no ordinary year for Fiji but was one that will be remembered by everyone who was present at Prince Charles Park in Nadi on the afternoon of November 28 where...
Argentina’s World Cup heroes forced to abandon bus parade and complete celebrations in helicopters
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s World Cup heroes had to abandon an open-top bus parade in Bueno Aires on Tuesday as millions of ecstatic fans flooded onto the streets and brought the city to a standstill, with Lionel Messi and his team mates whisked into helicopters to complete the planned celebrations. The players who were...
BCF to hold consultation
THE Boxing Commission of Fiji will hold a consultation with all the stakeholders to clarify its stance on certain rules that will apply in the future. The commission was supposed to hold the discussion last week before the South Pacific Boxing Promotions program in Nadi last weekend but this could not happen because the permit...
