Coco Talanoa — Sports / Page 7

Hawaiian/Samoan MMA fighter Max 'Blessed' Holloway was brought to tears at the UFC Singapore press conference talking about the Maui fires.

The 'Blessed Express' takes on the Korean Zombie in the early hours of Sunday morning and shared in the presser above that seeing the faces of family and children that had lost their lives in this Hawaii News Now post really hit him hard. 

“I always go in there with Hawaii on my back, but it feels a little bit heavier now” he concluded. 

He announced that in honour of the lives lost in the fire his walkout song would be dedicated to those who had been lost in the fire and the heroes like the fire fighters who are still doing what they can.

He will also be wearing red trunks for the first time in his UFC fight career in solidarity with the people of Lahaina.

For those wanting to donate directly to families affected by the fires go to @lahaina_ohana_venmo and donate.

"I don't know if I have a fairy godmother or my ancestors had some say in it, but I was able to do something tonight that I didn't think was possible," Tausaga said after smashing her personal best and snatching Gold at the World Athletics Championships.

The 25 year old made history when she stunned the crowd in Budapest with her personal best throw of 69.49 to win the first ever Gold medal in women’s Discus throw for an American at the World Athletic Championships.

She follows in the footsteps of fellow Samoan Beatrice Faumuina ONZM, who won Gold for New Zealand at the 1997 World Athletic Championships.

Prior to this meet Tausaga had finished last twice in the finals at the World Athletic Championships and she went into this years final with a personal best of 65.46 metres.  She obliterated her personal best by 4 metres.…more

By Loveni Enari

Feel like a dose of Samoan pride this weekend?  There’s a club team from Samoa looking to win at least four gold medals at the National Taekwondo championships in Kohimarama (19-20 Aug 2023).

The Barfoot and Thompson Stadium is hosting the tournament and Samoan club KLAS Taekwondo have arrived with big expectations.

According to the head coach Leuluaitumua Tapunuu Kaino Thomsen-Fuataga, anything less than four golds will be a disappointment.

Thomsen-Fuataga, himself a former Olympian and Oceania gold medalist, and current head coach of the Samoa national team:  "If we don’t get at least four golds we won’t be happy".

"We've got four national team members here who will be aiming to take out gold and I’m well aware of the level of competition they’ll be facing" he said from their base at Ngati Otara marae.

Those four members are Oswald Tapelu (-68kg), Ryan Eteuati (-74kg), Irae Mose Simi, (87kg+), and the only female from the national team, Tovale Filipo (-57kg) category.…more

By Thomas Airey

The Matildas, already Australia’s favourite team in sports long before the FIFA Women’s World Cup, are smashing every record there is for crowd attendance, television ratings and merchandise sales on their historic run in the tournament.

The nationwide interest is unprecedented but thanks to one forward’s starring role in the success it has been equalled in a village in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

A massive banner suspended over one of their streets reads ‘Kira Kira Village, the home of Koita Maiyago, Mary Boio Fowler’.

That means girl from our tribe – Fowler was born in Cairns but her mother Nido is from there and that’s where she met her husband, Mary’s Irish father Kevin.

Kira Kira has been draped in green and gold to support the Matildas, with hundreds gathering around TVs outside to watch each game wearing shirts and hats with Fowler’s number 11 printed on.

Her uncle Nabura Geita explained to the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier that his village was mainly into volleyball and cricket.…more

by Loveni S. Enari

After the wonderful scenes of Don Bosco Technical College, resplendent in the pouring rain, wowing, no - absolutely smashing the International Va'a opening ceremony in Apia Harbour yesterday - at 7:30am today, it was business time.

The Under 19 men kicked off the championship and Samoa came in an honourable fourth behind race favourites, Tahiti, Aotearoa and Hawaii, in that order.

The final medal table on 18 August will look similar, with a very tight struggle expected between perrenial champs, Tahiti and the always strong Kiwis, with permission of Hawaii, Australia and the Cook Islands.

The opening ceremony and march past were well supported and provided spectacularly festive images of the beach front road for the rest of the world.…more

Earlier this year, a tweet from UFC Fighter Themba Gorimbo caught Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s eye.

Gorimbo tweeted a screenshot of having $7 in his bank account, an amount all-too familiar with Johnson, who infamously had $7 in his pocket after getting cut from the Canadian Football League in 1995 and was forced to move home.

Inspired by his story, his selflessness and his determination for greatness, Johnson flew down to Miami to meet Gorimbo in person. While Gorimbo thought that meeting was the surprise of a lifetime, as he would soon find out, a lot more was in store.

In case you have missed much of the ongoing storyline, take a look back at how the Summerslam main event came to be, from when the Usos lost their rematch for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships against Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens in the video above.…more

By Thomas Airey

Manu Samoa are officially a top-10 rugby team in the world for the first time in eight years but head coach Vaovasamanaia Seilala Mapusua said his team are not under any more pressure than usual.

Vaovasamanaia, who has guided the Manu to eight wins and three losses (7-1 in test matches) since taking the reins in 2021, said high expectations from fans are always part and parcel of playing for Samoa.

“That’s been there regardless of what our ranking has been,” he said.

“For us it’s really accepting and embracing that our people are very passionate about this team and its performances. I think it just adds to the motivation.”

Manu Samoa’s current squad of 40 players assembled in Samoa on July 1, spending two weeks embedded with their people and that passion across the islands of Upolu and Savai’i.

Vaovasamanaia said cultural activities like rowing the fautasi under the guidance of legendary skipper Vaimasenu'u Zita Martel set the team up well for the rest of the year.…more

By Thomas Airey 

The ‘Ikale Tahi began their journey to the 2023 Rugby World Cup in impressive fashion but head coach Toutai Kefu insists his team are yet to scratch the surface of their potential.

In their first game at home since 2019, Tonga defeated Australia A 27-21 at Teufaiva Stadium in Nuku’alofa last Friday.

Kefu’s side have been in camp in the Kingdom for over a fortnight and he said they always get a sense of connection and belonging when they can start a campaign in Tonga.

“Off the field stuff, the boys have really engaged,” he said, noting a handful of players were visiting their ancestral homeland for the first time.

“I’ve encouraged all of them to get out amongst it, mix with family, go and see where their parents and grandparents were born.”

The centrepiece of their stay was the game against Australia A, marking both 50 years since ‘Ikale Tahi beat the Wallabies in 1973 and the 100 year jubilee of the Tonga Rugby Union.…more

By Thomas Airey 

The three Pasifika players at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand are all set to play on the opening night of the tournament this evening (Thursday 20th July).

Samoan New Zealander Malia Steinmetz will likely be the first of the trio in action having cemented herself in the Football Ferns’ best starting XI.

The 24-year-old has started in seven straight international games dating back to February, most often shielding the backline as the team’s deepest midfielder.

Co-captain Ria Percival’s return from a serious knee injury that had kept her off the pitch for more than a year has not bumped Steinmetz onto the bench.

In warmups against Vietnam (a 2-0 win) and Italy (a 0-1 loss) in the last 10 days Percival has taken up that defensive holding role with Steinmetz’s youth and versatility applied to an all-rounder position slightly higher up the pitch.…more