B’ville look forward to 2012 Games

TEAM Bougainville boxers leave Port Moresby over the next few days, determined to shine in the 5th PNG Games in the East New Britain Province in 2012.
The coaching staff headed by Steven Gitiri, assistant Steven Kevi, trainer Vincent Kokovi and assistant trainer Nelson Lames, have vowed to launch straight into their preparations for the next games, after the performance at these games.
The team won a total of four golds, six silvers and three bronzes in a performance tapered from the preparations prior to the games.
“We were looking at 10 gold for these games, but we were not expecting any miracles,” boxing chief Ernest Lacy said.
“We knew that our preparations had been minimal, with no tournaments under the fighters’ belts and only one selection tournament three weeks before flying over,” he added.
Lacey said the encouraging outcome of the results, however, had been the performance of the six debutants and the promise they held for the years to come.
The boxers include gold medal winners Bishop Wade Secondary (Tarlena) Grade 10 student Jacklyn Wangi, Grace Remani and Grade 8 school leaver Alodia Mosang.
“Wangi was not available to train due to her exams and only came through in the last week, Out of the six females, five went straight through to fight it out for gold,” Lacey said.
He also made a call to the national boxing body to support outside centres in a bid to raise the standard and grow the sport. He said there was obviously talent in PNG but a lot more talent could be tapped into if the proper facilities and equipment were available.