Fiji's netballers made a mighty start today at the Arafura Games in Darwin, Australia ©Getty Images

Fiji got off to a thumpingly good start in the netball at the Arafura Games in Darwin, Australia today as they trounced SAASTA Red 138-1 and went on to beat Singapore 83-18.

Pints Northern Territory also ended the day with two wins, defeating Brunei Darrusalam 50-43 and then SAASTA Black 74-35.

After two days of match racing in the sailing out of Darwin Sailing Club, Australia’s James Hodgson leads with a perfect 7-0 record, followed by New Zealand’s  Megan Thomson, who has won six and lost one.

Bryson Carew of Australia is third on 5-2, one place ahead of the all-female crew headed by India’s Taramati Mariwade, who have a 4-3 record.

More than 100 players from Australia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea took to the courts as the badminton event got under way.

In Group A, Papua beat Northern Territories 6-2 and the Philippines earned an 8-0 win over Guangzhou and a 7-1 win over Northern Territory.

East Kalimantan got up to speed fast in Group B with 8-0 wins over UTP Badminton and BA Juniors.

Cambodia also beat BA Juniors, 7-1.

Chinese Taipei and East Kalimantan 1 earned themselves a place in tomorrow’s tennis final.

The Taipei team beat Papua 3-0, while East Kalimantan beat their second string 3-2 in their semi-final.

After the second day of the basketball, Philippines and Northern Top End head their respective pools, while WA Indigenous and Australian Defence Force share top billing in the third pool.

Chinese Taipei's women basketball players won both their matches at the Arafura Games today to stay top of the table ©Arafura Games
Chinese Taipei's women basketball players won both their matches at the Arafura Games today to stay top of the table ©Arafura Games

In the women’s event, Northern Territory, Chinese Taipei and Australian Defence Force won both their matches today.

Some 27 men’s teams were in action as the beach volleyball got under way and by the end of the first day, three home combinations topped the early standings in their respective pools – Lampard and Landers, Keogh and Lowden, and Bye and Manning-Watson.

In the opening round of women’s pool matches on the waterfront, Vanuatu’s Ravo and Toko beat Gardner and Moloney of the Australian Defence Force 2-0, Fiji’s Taylor and Yaya beat Tromp and Donlan from Victoria 2-0, Chang and Hu of Chinese Taipei beat Samoa’s Motootua and Uelese 2-0, and Vanuatu II, Iatika and Pata, beat Bedggood and Galbraith of Northern Territories 2-0.

Male and female boxing also began at Darwin Convention Centre, with the opening programme seeing qualifying bouts for the men from 48-52kg up to +91kg, and for the women from 48-51kg to 75kg.

In the football, Northern Knights and NT Wha Whas are the leading points scorers with 10 each – the Knights beat Acehnese 2-0 today, and the Wha Whas had a 6-1 win over Marines.