The inaugural Women’s IHF Nations Trophy – Oceania saw a familiar face, Australia, clinch the title, after securing four clear wins, including one against New Caledonia in the final, 28:18.

The tournament opened with the preliminary round split across two groups. New Zealand, Cook Islands, New Caledonia and Kiribati make up Group A, while Australia, Fiji and Tahiti form Group B. The top two from each group advanced to the semi-finals, with the remaining teams entered the placement matches.

In Group A, New Caledonia swept their opponents with three dominating performances. They started with a 43:10 win against Kiribati, and followed up with a 33:13 win over the Cook Islands. The decider for the first place in the final standings of the group was against hosts New Zealand and New Caledonia provided another clear win.

New Zealand started stronger, but eventually faded, as an 8:3 run from New Caledonia turned the match on its head. Eventually, New Caledonia secured a 23:15 win to clinch the first place in the standings and set a crunch clash in the semi-finals with the second-placed side in Group B.

Cook Islands finished third in the group, thanks to their 25:6 win against Kiribati.

In Group B, Australia was no match for their opponents, taking two clear wins: 49:8 against Fiji and 27:16 against Tahiti, to clinch the first place. Tahiti ended up on the second place, courtesy of their 41:10 win against Fiji.

The two semi-finals were vastly different: Australia had no issues against hosts New Zealand, controlling the match from start to finish. While at half-time the gap was 10 goals, 17:7, it ballooned to 15 by the end, with Australia confirming their title credentials with a 28:13 win.

The other semi-final was dramatic and needed a last-gasp goal to be decided. Tahiti led against New Caledonia by as many as seven goals, 18:11, in the 28th minute, only to have their hearts broken in the dying seconds, when Olivia Vaitanaki scored the decider through a converted penalty, to power New Caledonia through to the final, thanks to a 31:30 win.

But in the final, Australia were clearly superior. Starting off with a 5:2 lead, Australia exerted control of the match and created a six-goal lead, 11:5, after only 19 minutes. 

By the end of the first half, the gap was already eight goals and there was nothing that New Caledonia could do to weather the storm. Orthodoxia Zinonos, Greta Bernabei and Sau Hong Wong were the top scorers for Australia, with four goals each, in their 28:18 win, the fourth in a row, which helped them clinch the title.

The podium was completed by Tahiti, which beat New Zealand, 26:22, in the bronze-medal match.

Fiji ended up fifth, with Cook Islands sixth and Kiribati on the last place in the final standings.

New Caledonia’s Jenny Bazit was the top scorer of the competition, with 31 goals, three more than New Zealand’s Kianna Dawson, with the podium completed by Kiribati’s Veronika Batiri, with 18 goals.

According to the rules and regulations of the IHF Nations Trophy, the winner will earn the opportunity to represent Oceania at the 2026 AHF Women’s Asian Championship, creating a pathway towards the 2027 IHF Women's World Championship, therefore Australia are due to play in the Asian continental competition which is due to take place between 23 November and 2 December 2026.

Credit photo: Masanori Ugadawa / OCHF