Fighters test skills in taekwondo meet
The National –Wednesday, January 5, 2011
By TRAVERTZ MABONE
PARTICIPANTS will be competing for spots when the Southern region hosts the regional taekwondo championships in Port Moresby on Jan 22-23.
It is expected that other regions are also staging similar tournaments to select their best fighters to qualify for the national championships.
A national championship will also be held to select an elite squad to prepare for the Pacific Games in Noumea, New Caledonia, this year.
Sport Taekwondo Papua New Guinea is already taking steps to ensure fighters from around the country are well-versed with competition skills that will prove vital on the arena.
With the assistance of World Taekwondo Peace Corps, experts ram training programmes in Central, in July and August last year.
They have taken a similar approach this year with two senior South Korean experts administering training sessions on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons at the Institute of Business Studies.
They have been here since Dec 20.
After they complete their work in the National Capital District, the duo will travel to the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Morobe, East New Britain, Madang and Western Highlands.
STAPNG national coach Edward Kassman said 20 participants, including athletes, were interested in participating at the event.
“The response in Port Moresby is good with athletes and other interested persons eagerly focusing on the various taekwondo techniques,” Kassman said.
“With the focus on competition skills, the next two weeks leading to Jan 28 will be quite tough for the athletes as they enter more physical skills.”
Kassman said that the two instructors had proven to be better coaches than the previous one and have taught the fighters a lot of new skills and ways to counter opponents.
He added that they found PNG fighters quite strong but needed the skills because it was a major asset in winning fights.
“That is why the two will be here in PNG for three months to carry out a nationwide competition skills training programme,” Kassman said.