Pacific Games ready to begin in New Caledonia

Miller Elwin (background) and Linline Matauatu of Vanuatu will be hoping for a good outing at the tournament after a promising performance at the London 2012 Olympic Games test event in London last week   Reprinted from FIVB e_news, August 22, 2011:   Noumea, New Caledonia, August 18, 2011 - The 14th Pacific Games are to be held in Noumea on the island of New Caledonia from August 27 to September 10 2011 with beach volleyball and volleyball both expected to draw some of the larger crowds. Both sports will have very strong support at the games with more nations lining up to compete for the medals in these disciplines than for any of the other team sports being played at the games. Beach volleyball will have a total of 14 nations involved with the Tahitian men’s and women’s teams very keen to repeat their gold medal showings at the 2007 Pacific Games in Samoa. However the Vanuatu ladies, fresh from their involvement at the FIVB VISA London Invitational Olympic test event will give the Tahitian ladies plenty to think about. This promises to be a great contest. On the men’s side the Fijian and New Caledonian teams will be the biggest challenge for the Tahitians. In the volleyball, the men from Wallis et Futuna claimed the gold medal at the 2007 edition of the tournament in a thrilling five set match and put an end to a long run by the Tahitians who will be looking to recover their title in 2011. The contest between these two and Guam, New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea will provide plenty of excitement. On the women’s side Tahiti will receive strong challenges from Fiji, the current Oceania Champions, and the New Caledonian women who were runners up at the 2010 Oceania Championships.  Additional links    Download high-resolution photo    FIVB home page    Volleyball home page    Beach volleyball home page