With the annual Indigenous Heritage Games culminating on Sunday evening, the finals of various sporting disciplines played at the Everest Cricket Club Ground revealed a rich vein of undiscovered talent.
Male and female cricket champions Mahdia and Region One
The annual event began on Friday morning with some 600 athletes participating in cricket, football, volleyball, archery, and swimming. After two days filled with activity, the way was paved for the highly-anticipated finals on Sunday.
Archery
Archery saw a commendable turnout, with enough participants to make the competition interesting. In the Under-12 category, the younger archers were given the opportunity to exhibit their skills. In the Cadet female Under-12 category, coming out on top was Marisha Melville of Region Four with 27 points, followed by Alliya Melville of Region Seven with 12 points and Anjalie Adams of Region Four with one point. In the Cadet male 12-and- under category, Ravedo Kanhai with 25 points was first; Robeno Kanhai with 17 points and Stephen Pearson with 12 points were second and third respectively. All archers in that category were from Region Two. In the males 13-17 category, George McLee won, while Bert Paul came in second. In the female category, Sara Fredericks was first with 14 points and Serena Clenkian followed with seven points. In the adult women 18+ category, Ausilda Paulin won with 13 points, while Rusal Dundas and Bernette Gordon came in second and third respectively with 10 and 6 points. In the ‘male others’ category, Alex Pearson won with 39 points while Jude Edwin and Aubrey De Souza took second and third place with 28 and 24 points respectively.
Football
Sunset brought heightened excitement at the Ground, with spectators and players alike anticipating action in the biggest event of the night — the male and female football finals. In the female category, Pariuma battled it out with Kamarang who lost 2-1 after stellar performances in their previous matches. In the first half of the match-up, neither side scored any goals despite many attempts. The second half, however, saw Zulika McNaughtor register Kamarang’s first goal in the 50th minute, but in the 70th minute, Jadyln Williams produced the equaliser to give her side hope. Five minutes later, Pariuma took control of the game with a Satuaka Sai blast past the keeper; and her side held the lead for the remainder of the match, to be crowned 2019 champions.
In male football action, when the starting whistle sounded, the players from both sides were already gunning for the goal, and judging from the style and tactics displayed, it was clear that both sides had immense talent. In the Kako versus Moruca showdown, neither side was able to score in the first 45 minutes as they were evenly matched. Heading into the second half, what looked like a possible penalty shootout ended in the 55th minute with the Moruca hero Ronaldo Rodrigues blasting the lone goal into his opponents’ net to have his side deemed the 2019 champs. No amount of substitution seemed to do the trick for Kako, who had impressed in their semi-final fixture.
Volleyball
The day started with the volleyball competition for males and females, wherein defending champions Moruca (males) and Waramuri (females) set out to retain their titles. Things did not go as planned this year, as neither of the two was able to secure a spot in the final, and the way was made clear for new contenders. In the male volleyball action, the team to keep an eye on was Region Two, Mainstay, in their semi-final, because they had defeated Spartan with quiet ease. Despite losing the first round 15-3, they bounced back in the final two rounds to take the game 15-12 and 17-15 to book themselves a spot against Region Seven. In the finale between Regions Seven and Two, the latter team’s stellar performance deserted them, and despite winning the first round 17-15, they went on to lose the other two 15-12 and 17-15.
Male and female volleyball champions Regions Seven and One
The female volleyball match showcased Region Four, who had the upper hand in terms of experienced players, but lost to Region One, who showed heart and determination. Heading in to round one, Region Four lost 15-9, making silly mistakes up front and needing correction. Needing to win the second round, Region Four shocked the spectators with their underperformance, losing 15-5 and giving Region One the crown on a platter.
Cricket
In the finale of this sport, pitted against each other were the ladies of Region Four and Region One. These teams showed no mercy to each other in their encounter, as they gave their all on the field. Region One won the toss and elected to bowl first, but Region Four wasted no time in blasting runs at an alarming rate. They were able to post 88 for 4 from their allotted 10 overs. Top scoring was Tomica Wilson with 37, while Abigail Scott supported with 14. What looked like a competitive figure was soon put to rest, as Region One were merciless in winning the game with a score of 90 for 3. Leading at the top of the order was Marva Benjamin, who bludgeoned an unbeaten 45 to single-handedly take her team over the line and hand Region One the title.
In the male matchup, the action was non-stop from the first ball bowled as Mahdia, labelled the black sheep or controversial team of the competition, silenced their critics when they raced to the title that had evaded them in 2018. Pitted against Region One after knocking out defending champions Laluni, Mahdia restricted their opponents to 85-5 in 10 overs. Top scoring for Region One was Michael Sutton, who dug his team out of a hole with a quick-fire 40 that included five maximums and two boundaries. Arshad Ali’s 2-14 were the best bowling figures for his side. Needing 86 for victory, Mahdia raced to their target in 4.5 overs, ending on 91 without the loss of a wicket. Ali was again the dominant factor, blasting 45 from 11 balls, inclusive of six maximums and two boundaries. He was supported by Andrew Gibson, who contributed 35 to afford Mahdia the win by 10 wickets.
At the end of it all, the Heritage Games 2019 saw a general increase from its 2018 edition, in terms of the participants and the wide variety of culture that was on display.
