Cook Islands Beach Games 2022 beach volleyball and air badminton has been postponed to next Thursday following yesterday’s adverse weather conditions.

The final two sports in the annual games was supposed to start on Thursday at the Nikao beach and The Edgewater Resort and Spa courts.

However after torrential rain and windy conditions, Cook Islands Sports and National Olympic (CISNOC) decided to rescheduled the remainder of the Beach Games to Thursday next week.

CISNOC secretary general Owen Lewis said they have sent the notices to all the participating teams advising them of the change.

“We can’t guarantee what the weather will be like (today) and also we would not be able to finish all the matches in a day, that’s why we decided to recommence the games from Thursday to Saturday (next week), finishing it off with the closing ceremony,” Lewis said.

“It has been three years of hosting this (beach) games and this is the first time weather has interrupted us, its not a norm. Unfortunately, we can’t control the weather but we look forward to more actions next week.”

The Beach Games kicked off with beach handball competition on Monday last week followed by beach football on Thursday. The Tea-Keys won the beach handball title.

In the beach football, Black Wolves from Tupapa retained the title on Saturday. The Wolves finished the three-day competition unbeaten. Onetox finished second followed by the Spice Guys.

In the women’s competition, Spice Queenz were crowned the new champions after the side overcame defending champions Ladies in Black, who finished in second place, followed by The Vibers.

The games resumed on Monday this week with beach touch and 3x3 basketball. Notchya claimed the gold medal in the open mix category followed by G.A.T and Nukz Power, finishing second and third, respectively, in beach touch.

In the U16s beach touch competition, Palmerston 2 finished on top followed by Mitiaro in second place and Palmerston 1 third.

The 3x3 basketball played at The Edgewater Resort courts saw Sponges claim gold medal followed by Aitutaki (silver) and Araura (bronze) in the open women’s division.

In the open men, Mamba Gang won gold, Raro Ballerz settled for silver and Drifter managed bronze medal.

Cook Islands Touch president Julz Westrupp was pleased with the competition level from the participating 12 teams which included four under-16 teams.

Westrupp pointed out some of the highlights: “Having totally new 16s team participate (St Marys), only code with a youth category, wicked tries from females diving and great weather.”

She also said there were some valuable lessons learnt from the Beach Games heading into the 2022 season.

“We have to ensure players understand rules to ensure a great competition across all teams. Possibly hold a younger age category for a bit of fun which can be had prior to 16s and look for other prizes to encourage more participation.”

CISNOC’s Lewis is pleased with the level of competition and support from the community so far and is looking forward to finishing the 2022 Beach Games on a high.