Solomon Islands’ participation in badminton at the 2019 XVI Pacific Games is a first for the country.

And the team is using the experience to learn as much as they can about the sport before they return home.

The Solomon Islands badminton team manager, Thinking Maitaki, told the Samoa Observer in an interview that competing in the sport at this level is a new experience for his players as badminton is not big in his country. 

“Most of our players this is their first competition, well back in Solomon we really don’t get into badminton,” he said.

The Solomon Islands men’s badminton team played New Caledonia on Wednesday and lost the match. They do not have a women’s badminton team, though Maitaki revealed that they had women who trained for the Pacific Games back home, but did not travel to Samoa. 

“We only got three players, we actually have a female team for Solomon team throughout the training but they could not come,” he said.

A Solomon Islands badminton player, Berni Guun, said despite the loss to New Caledonia, they were happy with the experience and he is looking forward to the next game. 

“We are very happy to be here, this a very new experience for us, we are participating in the individual and double events,” he said. 

The team’s coach, Roseanne Ulunga, said she is proud of her team’s effort and their presence in the 2019 Pacific Games which is a learning experience for them. 

“I am very proud of my team, they made to Samoa and take a part in the Pacific Games, and we can see that we are trying to get used to the environment, it's still a learning process for us but we are here to enjoy and play as well getting experience,” she said.