One word to describe day two of the VICTOR Oceania Junior Mixed Team Championship is spirited. With an evening tie that had the whole hall screaming to a meaningful first tie win, we were not short on drama.
Here’s your rundown of all of today’s action.
Session 1
After a difficult first day facing the tournament’s top three seeds, the Cook Islands successfully regrouped and hit the ground running in their first tie against Guam on Court 1.
Kaiyin Mataio and Te Pa Tupa (COK) were the first to take court against Guam’s Allan Zeng and Offeia Yordy (GUM). Guam took the early lead, with a first game with 15-6. However, Kaiyin and Te Pa steadied their nerves to take the next two sets 15-7, 15-10 to secure the event point.
Next, Lana Toa (COK) faced Guam’s Kristine Deng. It was a tight match, trading leads throughout the entire match. In the end, it was Lana who came out on top, winning 15-10, 15-12.
It took 12 minutes for Makea Pauka to secure his team’s first tie win of the tournament. He dominated against Derrick Yan to take the games 15-8, 15-8.
“For me it felt special, espcially winning against another country. Back on our island we play the same people so it was cool to compete and win.” – Makea Pauka (COK)
From there, Cook Islands never looked back, going on to take both the women’s and men’s doubles. They won the tie 5-0.
Over on Court 2, Northern Marianas faced the undefeated Australia.
Although they fought their hardest, Australia proved to be too strong. Keeping their opponents in the single digits in every event, the Falcons dictated every moment of the tie and pulled away with a 5-0 win.
New Zealand played Fiji on the third court. The Kiwis are looking stronger each match and comfortably pulled away to a 5-0 win.
Session 2
Back on Court 1, Guam put up a fierce fight against Australia, but their opposition’s experience and technical knowledge showed. Despite their best efforts, Guam lost to Australia 0-5.
New Zealand returned to the floor to take on the hometown heroes, Northern Marianas, on Court 2. Evan Seguritan (NMP) held his own against Eric Lu in the men’s singles, but it wasn’t enough. New Zealand ran away with the tie, winning 5-0.
After a bye in the first session, Tahiti arrived at the court ready to make their mark. Winning the first four events, Tahiti’s only dropped point came from Leilah and Maliti Chung in the women’s doubles for a tie score of 4-1.
Men’s doubles partners Mike Mi You and Matt Chagnot felt good about their performance.
“We’re really happy to win our second tie, it felt pretty easy but it shows the sacrifices we have made are paying off.” – Matt Chagnot (TAH)
Session 3
Over on Court 3, Cook Islands looked composed and confident as they took on Fiji. Securing every match, they continued to build momentum. Once again, the Fiji cousins of Maliti and Leilah Chung caused a few issues for their opponents in the women’s doubles, but Cooks’ Arihoia Sprauge-Marsters and Te Pa Tupa steadied themselves to get the win.
“Throughout the match we had the mindset of having simple shots, not trying to do any trick shots. We tried to take the lead but lost it so we had to fight back and not let the pressure get us” – Te Pa Tupa (COK)
Cook Islands ended up taking the win 5-0.
New Zealand faced Guam. The young Guam team tried their hardest but could not hold off the charging New Zealand squad as they reached a 5-0 tie win.
The tie of the day came from the Northern Marianas and Tahiti. In the projected bronze medal machup, there was never a dull moment.
Cheers from both sides erupted in Ada gym over two hours of battle. Throughout every match, it seemed as if the points could go either way.
Tahiti’s Mike Mi You and Ninon Malaval opened well for the French territory, winning 15-7, 16-14.
The women’s singles was expected to be a good match, but it was far more gruelling than anyone expected. Over 33 minutes, Tahiti’s Waianuhea Teheura looked to defeat Lina Tsukagoshi (NMP). She took the early lead, winning the first game 15-13. The break helped Lina to reset, as she took back the lead, taking the second and third games and holding off a late resurgence from Waianuhea (17-15, 15-13).
The men’s singles match also came down to a third game. Marlon Bautista of Northern Marianas took the first game in a close contest (15-13). Matt Chagnot (TAH) seemed to find his rhythm to win the second game (15-4). However, Marlon dug deep and was spurred on by the support of his community to power to a third-game win (15-12).
If Shaina Malonzo and Lina Tsukagoshi won the women’s doubles, they would secure the tie win. Such pressure might cause some to crack, but not these two. They rallied fast and hard to close out their match in 20 minutes, winning 15-10, 15-6 against Ninon Malaval and Waianuhea Teheura.
The tie win may have been secured, but the men’s doubles was still a three-match thriller. Jude Mallari and Dave Odicta (NMP) faced off against Matt Chagnot and Mike Mi You. The hometown duo took the first set, but the Tahiti pair fought with a vengeance and in 30 minutes clinched the final point with a match score of 14-16, 15-9, 15-12.
Northern Marianas edged out Tahiti for a 3-2 tie win.
Coming Up Tomorrow
The last day of the VICTOR Oceania Junior Mixed Team is upon us! The action begins at 10 am local time tomorrow morning.
In the title tie, Australia and New Zealand will meet on Court 2. After two days of gameplay, New Zealand feels ready to upset the number one seeds.
“This tournament has helped us prepping and adjusting to the courts, along with the new system because the games are a lot faster.” – Qixuan Yang, Lillian Cao (NZL)
The two teams closest to home will battle it out on Court 1 – Northern Marianas vs Guam.
One Court 3, Tahiti and Cook Islands will meet for their final tie of the tournament.
