Event eyes big turnout

A LARGE turnout is expected for the PNG Air-sponsored West New Britain (WNB) championships which will be held at the Sasindran Muthuvel Stadium in Kimbe over the weekend.
Despite disruptions to training this year due to theCovid-19 restrictions, the coach Wilson Malana-led athletics programme in the province has been very active, with a number of weekly competitions already held.
With the support of Athletics Papua New Guinea (APNG) and its sponsor PNG Air, the WNB athletes will benefit from strong competition from 15 national and development squad athletes from East New Britain, Chimbu, Goroka, Port Moresby and Lae.
This number includes three National Sports Institute-sponsored development athletes who will travel from Goroka with coach Samu Sasama.
With local photo finish expert George Moramoro on hand to provide fully automatic timing, the national athletes will be looking forward to seeing where they are with the national championships only three weeks away.
APNG president Tony Green congratulated the WNB association for its efforts in organising the championships at this time and thanked the provincial authorities for their support.
After 12 months training under coach Nelson Stone, Port Moresby-based Leroy Kamau will be the man to beat in the 100m and 200m.
But with Michael Penny and a host of young sprinters taking the field, including Wewak’s Emmanuel Anis and West New Britain’s Graeme Bai, who dominated the recent New Guinea Islands championships, securing a place in the men’s 100m final will be very competitive.