NZ Youth Commonwealth Day 3 Update

Above: Pelea Fruean from Auckland lands a jab on her English opponent Getty Images

New Zealand’s track and field athletes and swimmers secured four silvers and a bronze on day four of competition at the Commonwealth Youth Games.

Whangarei’s Ciara Smith began proceedings in the 100m breaststroke in the pool. Smith swam a fast paced 1.10.72 to take out second place.

Hannah Bates from Christchurch then won bronze in a hotly contested 100m butterfly with a time of 1.01.27.

Wellington’s Lewis Clareburt continued his excellent form, earning his fourth medal of the games, a silver in the 400m freestyle in a time of 3.54.15.

“I’ve got a PB in every event so far so I’m pretty stoked with that, there’s been a lot of work go into this,” said Clareburt.

“Being up on the podium is such a great feeling at an international competition, so I’ve just been taking it in and loving it.”

In the athletics stadium Te Aroha’s Tatiana Kaumoana won silver in the discus with a throw of 45.54m.

“The throws felt good but they didn’t go as far as I was hoping, definitely good to get on the podium but I would’ve liked to be on the top spot,” said Kaumoana.

Team flag bearer Nick Palmer was pipped at the post in the men’s shot put.

Palmer led the competition from the beginning but an Australian thrower managed a 19.70m toss on the second to last throw of the meet, bettering the Kiwi’s 19.57m effort. Palmer had a chance to top that but was unable to, his last throw falling short.

“It took me a few throws to get going, I never really found my rhythm and that’s the way it goes sometimes so I’ll go back to the drawing board and prepare for world juniors,” Palmer said.

The women’s beach volleyball team of Ella Akkerman from Tauranga and Jasmine Milton from Whangarei looked the better of the teams as they took on Scotland in their semi-final.

The pair were clinical from the outset to win the first set convincingly 21-12 but made hard work of the second as Scotland pushed them to extra points. The Kiwi’s then forced errors to take the win 22-20.

“It was good to get the result, we didn’t do it in the convincing way we wanted but at least we made it through,” said Milton.

The pair will take on tournament favourites Australia in the gold medal match tomorrow.

“As long as we go out and play our best we’ll be happy but we definitely want that gold medal as well”.

The men’s team of Tyran Gillespie from Rotorua and Keegan Joe from New Plymouth beat South Africa in two sets to place 5th overall.

In the ring Pelea Fruean continued the boxers strong campaign with a determined fight against her English opponent. The Auckland fighter threw precision punches to win in a unanimous decision.

“She wasn’t an easy opponent so I had to stay busy, I had to use my straight shots and my right when her guard was down but she made me work for it,” said Fruean.

The win sees Fruean advance to the semi-finals and guarantees her a medal.

The 16 year old is the cousin of WBO heavyweight world champion Joseph Parker.

Medal tally: Gold x8, Silver x7, Bronze x5

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About the Commonwealth Youth Games

Dozens of New Zealand’s most promising and exciting young athletes will take on their Commonwealth counterparts at the Bahamas Commonwealth Youth Games, held between 18 – 23 July 2017.

The Games will be the largest international sporting event ever hosted in the Bahamas, and the largest ever edition of the Youth Games. Up to 1300 athletes aged 14-18 are set to make the most of an inspiring and immersive mix of impactful sporting competition, personal development and new Commonwealth friendships.

A team of 33 young Kiwi athletes will represent New Zealand at the Games. The team will be made up of eleven swimmers, ten athletics representatives, three cyclists, five boxers and four beach volleyball players. The athletes have been working hard to prepare for the Games and will build on the successes of previous Kiwi teams. The last Commonwealth Youth Games was held in Samoa in 2015 where New Zealand won 20 medals, made up of seven gold, eight silver and five bronze.
 
The Bahama’s first-ever international multi-sport event will see 94 medals contested across Athletics, Aquatics (Swimming), Beach Soccer, Boxing, Cycling (Road), Judo, Rugby Sevens, Tennis and Beach Volleyball. It will be the first time Judo, Beach Soccer and Beach Volleyball have been contested at a Commonwealth Youth Games.