A MOTHER - DAUGHTER GOLDEN COMBINATION

Maprik Open MP, John Simon (centre) celebrating the golden
victory of the Simbinali family; Cesley (left of MP Simon) displaying her double
gold medals and mum Angela (right of MP) also displaying her gold medal
while dad Alois (left of Cesley) was flanked by the Maprik community in Port
Moresby in the celebration. Pic by CYRIL GARE.
by CYRIL GARE

PORT MORESBY: Debutant twenty two year old East Sepik lass, Cesley Simbinali will never forget the events of the 15th Pacific Games held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea July 4-18, 2015 where she fought the odds to bag two Gold medals respectively for her country in Lawn Bowls.
The apogee of her life was out-shone in the women pairs (doubles) final playoff against a strong competitive Fijian side after she and team mate, Ju Carlo outclassed their opponents for the top spot. Fiji settled for Silver instead while Cook Islands took out Bronze.  
That wasn’t all, she snatched her second Gold medal in the women 4’s category, even more of a delight, while playing alongside her own Manus mother, Angela Simbinali and the team for the national glory against Cook Islands.
“I had mum by my side, I had no fear. I was focused and confident from the start to win,” Cesley said during an interview with her at a relative’s residence at the Ensisi Valley, Port Moresby on Sunday (July 19, 2015).
She was accompanied by a very proud East Sepik father, Alois Simbinali from Ulupu in the Maprik district of East Sepik and mother, Angela from Powat village in the mainland Manus province, who also won Gold in the women 4’s. Angela also represented PNG in the 2014 Glasgow Olympics.
This mother-daughter “golden” combination in Lawn Bowls was just one of a dozen stories about members of the same family or clans whom were selected and competed for PNG in this, the 15th Pacific Games;
  • Touch Football: mother Dianne Vetu and son Samuel;
  • Weightlifting: sisters Dika and Thelma Toua;
  • Athletics: Toea Wisil and her brother Kupun Wisil;
  • Swimming: sisters Savannah and Ebony Tkatchenko while brother Jordon in Rugby Sevens;
  • Tennis: sisters Abigail and Marcia Tere-Apisah and cousin Violet Apisah;
  • Squash: Madako Suari Junior and sister Alma;
  • Soccer: brothers Alwin and Felix Komolong;
  • Rugby Sevens: brothers Max and Wesley Vali;
  • Boxing: sisters Raphaella Baki and Debbie Kaore
  • Sailing: John, Boisen and sister Roselee Numa;
  • Basketball: the Muri brothers - Apia, Dia, Purari and sister Maka Muri. Also brothers Liam and Lloyd Wright;
  • And other such contenders in Taekwondo, Table Tennis, Volleyball and Shooting.
“I started playing bowls 10 years ago in Lae,” Cesley recalled. Her father Alois is an avid bowler and member of the Lae Bowlers Club, he introduced his wife Angela and young Cesley to the sport at the early age of 11.
Since then, Cesley has been into corporate bowls tournaments. In 2007, Cesley snatched Gold in the PNG Games women’s single and Bronze in women’s pairs. She increased her golden spree in the 2014 PNG Games bagging gold in women’s singles and gold in women’s pairs.
During the 2015 National Singles in Bulolo, Morobe province, Cesley snatched gold again. Her outstanding performance record paved her way into the Team PNG and it proved all just right for her, her dad Alois, her sponsors, employer Trukai rice, the coaching team, her young friends and importantly for her relatives back home in Maprik (East Sepik) and Manus provinces respectively.
“I owe my win to mum, my dad, my employer Trukai rice for allowing me time to train and prepare for the Pacific Games. I am happy with the outcome and am looking forward to Tonga in 2019,” Cesley said.
Mum Angela said: “I was very proud to play with my daughter alongside me to win Gold for our country. It was a great achievement for our country, our club and our district”.
Asked if mum Angela will compete again in the 2019 Games in Tonga, she replied: “that depends on our Dad’s employment …”. Dad Alois works with Bank South Pacific (BSP) Corporate Banking Lae as Credit Analyst and is due for retirement.
Alois was in tears when asked about her daughter and wife’s combined achievements: “I am too emotional…I expected it all along. Ol karim nem blo family (they bore our family name - Simbinali) and that really made me proud. I thank my employer BSP to allow me time to be with them all this time”.
Young Cesley said she had no idea what she will do with the windfall K40,000 from the PNG Government as a prize for her double medals while mum couldn’t disclose her plans as yet on the prize.
Meanwhile, Maprik Open MP, John Simon has congratulated the Simbinali family for “making Maprik and people of East Sepik proud” of their golden achievements.  
He pledged K5,000 each for the mother and daughter “as a token of appreciation from Maprik district”.
The Maprik MP also congratulated Wimbledon Tennis heroin Heather Watson (UK) who nearly beat world’s No.1 Serena Williams (USA) in women singles recently. Heather is half British (father) while her mother hails from Kuminimbus village, Maprik, East Sepik.

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