1963 South Pacific Games

South Pacific Games in Suva, Fiji 1963 South Pacific Games 1963_South_Pacific_Games_logo.png 170px Suva Fiji 13 646 10 sports58 medal events 29 August 1963 8 September 1963 Sir Kenneth Maddocks,SPG Results 1963 74Governor of Fiji 1966 Nouméa The 1st South Pacific Games (fj 1 ni Qito ena Ceva ni Pasifika), also known as Suva 1963, held from 29 August to 9 September 1963 in Suva, Fiji, was the first edition of the South Pacific Games. The multisport games were established to engender bonds of friendship amongst peoples in the Pacific, after an idea originated by Dr A.H. Sahu Khan was adopted by the South Pacific Commission. At a meeting of nine Territories, held in Nouméa during March 1961, Fiji was awarded the honour of hosting the first Games.History https://web.archive.org/web/20150430204819/http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=2-2642-0-0-0&sID=24027 2015-04-30 . Pacific Games Council Official Website. Participating countries Thirteen Pacific nations or territories, and 646 competitors, participated in the Games:SPG Results 1963 90 17em American Samoa (91) New Zealand Cook Islands (25) Fiji colonial (176) French Polynesia 1946 (68) Gilbert and Ellice Islands (15) Australia civil Nauru (18) New Caledonia 1853 (76) New Hebrides 1963 (30) New Zealand Niue (17) Territory of Papua and New Guinea Papua and New Guinea (86)png * Solomon Islands 1956 (27) Tonga (47) Western Samoa (69) Note: A number in parentheses indicate the size of a country's team (athletes and officials, where known). Sports Ten sports were contested at the 1963 South Pacific Games:SPG Results 1963 10 15em Athletics 29athletics a Basketball 1basketball and netball b Boxing 8boxing c Football 1 Netball 1basketball and netball b Rugby union 1 Swimming 14 Table tennis 1 mmixed-team-sports d Tennis 1 mmixed-team-sports d Volleyball 1 mvolleyball e Note: Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of medal events contested in each sport (where known). Final medal table The home nation, Fiji, easily topped the (unofficial) medal tally:amendments † Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 Fiji colonial  33swim unofficial ‡23  26box dq §   82amendments † 2 Territory of Papua and New Guinea Papua and New Guinea9  11swim unofficial ‡11   31amendments † 3 New Caledonia 1853791127 4 French Polynesia 194642410 5 Tonga2428 6 American Samoa12  3box dq § 7amendments † 7 New Zealand Cook Islands2305 8 Western Samoa0123 9 Gilbert and Ellice Islands01 1 2 10 New Hebrides 19630101Totalsamendments †  58amendments †  57amendments †  60amendments †  175amendments † #ccccff The host country is highlighted in lavender blue solid 1px #aaa Calendar The following table provides a summary of the competition schedule.SPG Results 1963 See also Athletics at the 1963 South Pacific Games Basketball at the 1963 South Pacific Games Football at the 1963 South Pacific Games Rugby union at the 1963 South Pacific Games Notes png * The Games official report listed the PNG contingent at 86 (78 competitors and 8 officials),SPG Results 1963 90 although the Canberra Times reported a team of 93 (competitors and officials). amendments † The medal table published on the Pacific Games Council webpage (as at May 2015), counts four extra medals (two for Fiji and one each for PNG and American Samoa) that were not actually awarded according to the Official Report and Results published in 1963.SPG Results 1963 The medal columns for these countries have been marked up with a (blue background) in the table above with those counts revised down. The totals on the right and at the bottom of the table are also amended to account for this change. swim unofficial ‡ The swimming medal totals for Fiji and PNG have been amended to exclude the unofficial 3 × 110 yd medley relay for women for which medals were not awarded, although Fiji and PNG finished first and second respectively.SPG Results 1963 48–53 box dq § The boxing medal totals for American Samoa and Fiji have been amended to exclude two semifinalists who were disqualified in their respective semifinal bouts and, as such, did not receive a bronze medal; S. Tinoe from American Samoa in the featherweight class, and M. Delai from Fiji in the light-heavyweight class.SPG Results 1963 35–39 athletics a Track and field athletics: There were 29 events in total; 19 for men and 10 for women. In the women's 4 x 100 metres relay, only a gold medal was awarded (to Fiji). The remaining teams were disqualified.SPG Results 1963 26–27 basketball and netball b The game of "women's basketball" in the early 1960s often referred to the sport now known as netball. A recap of the 1963 results published in the Pacific Islands Monthly in 1969 does not mention netball but records that Fiji won the women's basketball competition. The official FIBA basketball record indicates that only a men's competition was held in 1963. 30 September 2011 Results Booklet FIBA Oceania PDF 0.9 MB http://www.sportingpulse.com/get_file.cgi?id=2651620 live https://web.archive.org/web/20141011184717/http://www.sportingpulse.com/get_file.cgi?id=2651620 11 October 2014 A summary of the SPG netball competitions as reported by Islands Business in 1990 shows that Fiji won the netball title in 1963. boxing c Boxing: Although there were ten weight divisions, medals were only awarded in eight of them. Fiji made the only nominations in the flyweight and heavyweight classes and had put two boxers in each division to ensure a contest. J. Roba and M. Mate in the flyweight, and V. Dikidikiliti and P. Kali in the heavyweight, were awarded silver cups in lieu of medals.SPG Results 1963 35–39 mixed-team-sports d Tennis and table tennis were contested as mixed team sports on a knock-out basis, with each sport having only one gold medal awarded. volleyball e Volleyball was held as a men's competition only. References 25em 11 October 2010 South Pacific Games 1963 - Fiji Pacific Games Council 15 May 2015 http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?client=2-2642-0-0-0&sID=24032&&news_task=DETAIL&articleID=68534 live https://web.archive.org/web/20120727151040/http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?client=2-2642-0-0-0&sID=24032&&news_task=DETAIL&articleID=68534 27 July 2012 1990 Matenga shoots for gold Islands Business 16 63 News (South Pacific) Limited 29 May 2015 https://books.google.com/books?id=aNK2AAAAIAAJ&q=%22Matenga+shoots+for+gold%22 25 September 1963 Problems at Pacific Games The Canberra Times http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131735356 15 May 2015 25 September 1963 Athlete from Nauru The Canberra Times http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article104268199 15 May 2015 2 August 1963 PNG is sending a team to Suva for the South Pacific Games The Canberra Times http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article109900996 17 May 2015 1969 South Pacific Games results 1963 and 1966 Pacific Islands Monthly 40 2 31–32 Pacific Publications 14 July 2015 http://i.imgur.com/oK4ylFa.png dead https://web.archive.org/web/20161220182719/http://i.imgur.com/oK4ylFa.png 20 December 2016 Sources 1963 South Pacific Games: Official Report and Results Oceania Sport Information Centre 28 October 2015 http://www.sportingpulse.com/get_file.cgi?id=3808994 live https://web.archive.org/web/20151028134753/http://www.sportingpulse.com/get_file.cgi?id=3808994 28 October 2015 SPG Results 1963 Category:Pacific Games by year Pacific Games P Category:1963 in Fijian sport Category:International sports competitions hosted by Fiji Category:August 1963 sports events in Oceania Category:September 1963 sports events in Oceania