Viniana Naisaluwaki Riwai (born 6 June 1991) is a Fijian footballer, who plays as a midfielder for Rewa FC and the Fiji women's national team, and a rugby sevens player, who plays for the Fiji women's national team.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Viniana Naisaluwaki Riwai | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 6 June 1991 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Fiji | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Rewa | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Rewa | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010– | Fiji | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Riwai was educated at Labasa Sangam Primary School, Labasa Muslim College, and Suva Sangam College.[1] She later studied at the University of the South Pacific.[2]
Football career
editRiwai took up soccer in high school and was selected for the Fiji women's football team for the 2011 Pacific Games.[2] She capped for Fiji at senior level during the 2018 OFC Women's Nations Cup.[1]
Rugby sevens career
editRiwai made her senior international debut for the Fiji women's national rugby sevens team at the 2013 China Women's Sevens.[3] She was named in the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens squad for Fiji.[4] She was a member of the Fijian team at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[5][6]
Riwai competed for Fiji in rugby sevens at the 2020 Summer Olympics and she won a bronze medal at the event.[7][8][9][10][11]
Riwai was part of the Fijiana sevens team that won the silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.[12][13][14][15] She also featured at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town.[16]
References
edit- ^ a b Sampras Anand (9 August 2021). "'Riwai Brings Joy'". Fiji Sun. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
- ^ a b "Viniana Takes Things As They Come". Fiji Sun. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
- ^ Vula, Timoci (29 July 2016). "Riwai just loves to play". Fiji Times Online. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
- ^ "News: Fiji name final squad for Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow". ur7s.com. 17 June 2013. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
- ^ "RIWAI Viniana". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
- ^ Vula, Timoci (29 July 2016). "Fearless Riwai". Fiji Times Online. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
- ^ Prasad, Vashneel (4 July 2021). "Fijian Rugby Sevens teams named for Tokyo Olympic Games". Official Website of Fiji Rugby Union. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
- ^ "Olympic Champions Fiji have named their squads to compete in the Tokyo Olympics". RNZ. 5 July 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
- ^ "Fantastic Fijiana win historic Olympic medal". RNZ. 31 July 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
- ^ Deo, Rohit (31 July 2021). "2020 Tokyo Olympics: Fantastic Fijiana win historic Bronze medal". FijiTimes. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
- ^ "How the Fijiana battled adversity to win historic Olympic medal at Tokyo Games". www.world.rugby. 12 August 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
- ^ Tavi, Karalaini. "Fiji 7's squad named for Birmingham Games". fbcnews.com.fj. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
- ^ "Fiji Rugby names squads for Commonwealth Games Sevens". RNZ. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
- ^ Prasad, Vashneel (1 August 2022). "Team Fiji Men's and Women's teams settle for silver medals at Commonwealth Games". Official Website of Fiji Rugby Union. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- ^ "Australia takes Women's Sevens gold over Fiji". ESPN.com. 31 July 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- ^ Prasad, Vashneel (31 August 2022). "Saiasi Fuli names squad for Rugby World Cup". Official Website of Fiji Rugby Union. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
External links
edit- Viniana Riwai at FBref.com
- Viniana Riwai at Olympedia
- Viniana Riwai at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
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