The NMI’s Raymond Santos, center, poses with Marshall Islands’ Mike Riklon, left, and Solomon Islands’ Philip Masi during the medal ceremony for the men’s 55kg class (snatch) of the weightlifting competition in the 2023 Pacific Games Monday at the Maranatha Hall in Honiara, the Solomon Islands.
HONIARA, Solomon Islands (NMSA) — Weightlifter Raymond Santos won Team Marianas’s first gold medal in the 2023 Pacific Games.
Santos topped the snatch category in the men’s 5kg class in the weightlifting competition that started Monday morning at the Maranatha Hall in Honiara, the Solomon Islands. His third lift of 96kg gave him the gold in the snatch category and he later added a bronze (112 kg in clean & jerk) and silver (208kg total weight lift) after completing his events.
The NMI weightlifter was also awarded the silver medal in the 2023 Oceania Championships, which is being held simultaneously with the 2023 Pacific Games. Santos bested eight other weightlifters in the snatch category, including home favorite Philip Masi, who got the silver in the clean & jerk, and the Marshall Islands’ Mike Riklon — the winner in the total weight category and silver medalist in the snatch.
The weightlifting competition continues today, Tuesday, with Leowell Cristobal seeing action for Team Marianas at 10 a.m. (9 a.m. Saipan time). Weightlifting events are live streamed on https://youtube.com/@awfcomau/.
Bronze for Aleksenko
For his part, NMI swimmer Isaiah Aleksenko won a bronze medal in the 100m butterfly final race Monday night.
Aleksenko was one of the three NMI swimmers who advanced to the finals of their respective individual events after making the grade in the preliminary heats, which started Monday morning at the Aquatics Center.
Aleksenko posted the fastest time in the 100m butterfly prelims with a finish time of 55.09 seconds to lead seven other finalists. The finals of the 100m butterfly event, along with seven other races, took place at 6:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. Saipan time) Monday, but official times were unavailable as of press time.
In the 200m breaststroke prelims, Kouki Watanabe and Taiyo Akimaru reached the finals after timing in at 2:33.65 and 2:42.66, respectively, in the preliminary heats.
In the 4x100m men’s freestyle relay, Aleksenko, Juhn Tenorio, Kean Pajarillaga, and Akimaru were ranked third in the prelims after clocking in at 3:40.51 to remain in the hunt for a medal finish.
The swimming competition will continue today, Tuesday, with the preliminary heats for Events 9 to 16 scheduled to kick off at 9:30 a.m. (8:30 a.m. Saipan time).
Nunez, Akimaru, and Watanabe will see action in the 50m breaststroke preliminary races. Maria Batallones and Nagi Tenorio are also entered in the same event in the women’s division. Moshe Sikkel, Pajarillaga, Shoko Litulumar, Julia Jinang, Juhn Tenorio, and Kevin Guerrero will also compete in preliminary heats Tuesday morning.
Tennis
Meanwhile, the NMI men’s tennis team bowed out of competition in the team event after losing its second pool play assignment to top-ranked Tahiti. Moris Villanueva fell to Heimanarii Lai San in the first singles match, 0-4, 3-5, while Colin Ramsey dropped his game against Antoine Voisin, 1-4, 1-4. With the win already in the bag for Tahiti, the teams opted not to play the doubles match.
With its four-medal haul, Team Marianas made it to the Top 10 in the medal standings.
Team Marianas’ participation in this year’s Pacific Games is supported by the Joeten Daidai Foundation, Triple J, Crowne Plaza Resort, IT&E, IP&E, Tan Siu Lin Foundation, Mobil, Tan Holdings, and McDonald’s.
