2013 OCEANIA CHAMPIONSHIPS

Players from New Caledonia and Samoa arrived on Norfolk Island during the weekend to contest the 2013 Oceania Championships.  Unfortunately PNG pulled out at the last minute, which was a disappointment for the organisers and all the players.

The Championships are  held every 2 years usually in conjunction with the Pacific Games or Pacific Mini Games, however this year the event was held where there are no squash facilities so the event was held on Norfolk Island, who previously hosted the event in 2001.

The Norfolk Island Squash community have been busy over the past couple of weeks, hosting not only these Championships but the Oceania Masters only 2 weeks ago.  With such a small community they should be congratulated for their efforts to make this a successful event.  The hospitality has been terrific and very much appreciated by all the visiting players and officials.

The Teams Round Robin Events were played on Monday and Tuesday (7^th & 8^th October).

New Caledonia were  the favourites to take out the Men’s Team Event, having held the title since 2007 when they broke PNG’s winning streak of  5 consecutive championships (1997-2005).  However Samoa were just as determined to take the Gold.  With the points standing at New Caledonia (5) and Samoa (6) going into the last tie, it could have gone either way.  Samoa took the first 2 matches but New Caledonia lifted their game to take out the final 2 matches, forcing a count back seeing New Caledonia holding on by 9 games to 7.

Final overall points were : New Caledonia (9), Samoa (8) and Norfolk Island (1).

Unfortunately Samoa were unable to field a Women’s team, so only New Caledonia and Norfolk Island contested this event by playing 2 rounds against each other.  New Caledonia proved much too strong for Norfolk Island, taking the Gold Medal without losing a game throughout the event.

The Individual Events will commence on Wednesday morning with the finals played on Friday followed by a Presentation Function in the evening.

Men’s Team Results
Gold Medal – New Caledonia
Silver Medal – Samoa
Bronze Medal – Norfolk Island

Round 1 – New Caledonia defeated Norfolk Island : 3-1
Nicolas Massenet  defeated Gye Duncan                  4/11, 13/11, 11/4, 11/5
Laurent Guepy defeated Peter Christian-Bailey      11/7, 11/5, 11/4
Fabian Dinh defeated Duncan Gray                              11/8, 11/6, 11/5
Stephane De Gaillande lost to Mal Rundell                11/6, 10/12, 7/11, 6/11

Round 2 – Samoa defeated Norfolk Island : 3-0
Semo Old defeated Gye Duncan                                   13/11, 11/8, 8/11, 11/7
Ivan Chewlit defeated Peter Christian-Bailey           8/11, 9/11, 11/3, 11/6, 11/5
Jordan Chewlit defeated Duncan Gray                        12/10, 11/6, 11/4
Chad Rankin defeated Mal Rundell                               11/5, 11/2, 11/4           

Round 3 – New Caledonia defeated Samoa : 2-2 (Countback)
Nicolas Massenet defeated Semo Old                        5/11, 11/2, 11/4, 11/6
Laurent Guepy defeated Ivan Chewlit                        11/6, 11/8, 11/5
Fabian Dinh lost to Jordan Chewlit                                11/7, 11/5, 8/11, 4/11, 8/11
Alex Collenot lost to Chad Rankin                                  8/11, 8/11, 11/8, 5/11

Women’s Team Results
Gold Medal – New Caledonia
Silver Medal – Norfolk Island

Round 1 – New Caledonia defeated Norfolk Island : 3-0
Christine Deneufbourgh defeated Debby Adams  11/6, 11/3, 11/4
Sylvaine Durand defeated Becky Nobbs                     11/4, 11/5, 11/6
Kareen Hamou defeated Renee Webster                 11/3, 11/2, 11/3

Round 2 – New Caledonia defeated Norfolk Island : 3-0
Christine Deneufbourgh defeated Debby Adams  11/3, 12/10, 11/0
Sylvaine Durand defeated Becky Nobbs                     11/6, 11/7, 11/5
Christelle Nagle defeated Renee Webster                11/6, 11/5, 11/4