Team Va’a Scoops Two Medals for PNG at Pacific Mini Games

After Day 2 of the 2025 Pacific Mini Games in Koror, Palau, the sport of va’a is tracking well for Team PNG, settling for Silver Medal on the opening day (June 29th) and winning a Bronze Medal today (July 2nd).

Competing in the V12 500m final on the first day, the PNG crew clinched a well-earned  Silver Medal with a time of 2:00.67, finishing behind Tahiti, who took Gold with a time of 1:58.16 and Fiji followed closely behind, claiming Bronze with a time of 2:02.61.

This time, the PNG paddlers settled for Bronze in the Men’s V6 500m crew after clocking a time of one minute and 53.24 seconds, with Tahiti snatching the top spot and Wallis & Futuna finishing in second. 

So far, PNG Va’a Team has shown grit and determination in two days, securing a podium finish in a high-intensity race to bag two medals - Silver and Bronze.   

Meanwhile, Team PNG swimmers were back in the pool today, displaying strong performances in the Men’s and Women’s 100m Butterfly divisions. Nathaniel Noka finished with a time of 59.72 seconds (Event 11 - Men’s 100m Butterfly) and Abigail Ai Tom swam 1 minute, 11.65 seconds (Event 12 - Women’s 100m Butterfly). 

The Men’s 50m Breaststroke saw three PNG athletes take to the pool (Event 13). Noka returned to swim 32.16 seconds, Haoda Loi clocked 32.20 seconds, and Troy Oates finished in 33.76 seconds. The team is looking forward to today’s (2nd July) sessions and are determined to do better. 

In addition, the basketball U23 3x3 double-header fixtures were fierce yesterday (July 1st), with both PNG men’s and women’s teams getting off to powerful starts in their opening matches.The women’s team dominated the host nation Palau, with a 21–7 win, while the men’s team pulled off a 22–14 victory over Vanuatu in a closely-fought match. 

Both PNG basketball U23 3x3 teams returned to the court in the evening for their second matches against the Marshall Islands (men) and Fiji (women). While both teams fell short in the first stop of conference 1, they are regrouping for today (2nd July) with renewed focus and determination to redeem themselves. 

Team PNG will be back in action across several sports in Day 3 - including table tennis, swimming, va’a, indoor volleyball, softball, basketball 3x3, beach volleyball, and weightlifting. 

As the regional tournament intensifies across multiple sporting disciplines, Team PNG remain optimistic and hungry, as they anticipate winning more medals in the coming days.

PC: Team PNG