Daunakamakama becomes Fiji's first female boxer to secure a Games medal
Jasmine Daunakamakama beat Singapore's Keshani Hansika in the Women’s 57kg category to guarantee at least a bronze.
The 21-year-old is Fiji's first female boxer to compete internationally, and has had a fantastic run to the semi-finals.
Daunakamakama credits an important factor in her success: 'mana', a belief system found across Polynesian and Melanesian communities.
"I believe there's two sides of us," she said. "There's an internal war inside all of us where we're constantly fighting between the ego and our true self, which is the spirit. The mana is the will to overcome the fears because the fears are what's not real.
“What empowers me is the traditional way we see. We don’t value status or the external value of this world, but are more grounded with nature and what is real.”
The 21-year-old will hope to channel the mana in her semi-final, in which she faces Birmingham 2022 champion Michaela Walsh, of Northern Ireland, who has secured her fourth Games medal after her victory over Scottish teenager Lara Brown.
Medals for Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago
Former African Games champion Merven Clair (MRI) secured a convincing win in the Men’s 70kg tournament, beating Ghana's Precious Akai Nettey.
It was a special moment for 33-year-old Clair who is at his last Commonwealth Games, having made his debut in 2014 in Glasgow. After exiting at the quarter-final stage in 2022, he is guaranteed his first medal.
“I feel good because I worked very hard for this competition," Clair said. "I know that it is my last Commonwealth Games and it is my fourth.
“I start here in Glasgow (in 2014), but in Birmingham, it was too painful for me, so I decided to make at least the last Games, and to bring home a medal."
To reach the final he must overcome Wales' Orlando Holley-Sotomi who won in the first round against Lesotho's Refiloe Thai by knockout.
Trinidad and Tobago's Nigel Paul also made it into the semi-finals for the first time, in the Men’s 90+kg tournament.
Paul has twice lost to an eventual finalist in the quarter-finals, but with this win, he has secured at least a bronze - his nation's first boxing medal since Michael Alexander made the podium at Glasgow 2014.
“Hats off to the coaches being able to understand the landscape of the match,” said Paul, who praised his corner for overturning a 4-1 deficit in round 1 on his way to a unanimous-decision win.
“I’ve been to the Olympic Games, I have a medal at the world championships and this is my last Commonwealth appearance.
“To be the flagbearer for my country and also secure a medal, this is a really special Games to me.”
Paul faces India's Narender Narender for a place in the final.