Photo-finish expert comes in the nick of time

ATHLETICS Papua New Guinea (APNG) and its sponsor PNG Air came to the rescue of Athletics New Ireland yesterday as the provincial championships got underway at Utu Secondary School in Kavieng.
The New Ireland Athletic Association, assisted by local officials Subul Babo and Medley Laban, had been unable to raise the funds to fly Athletics PNG photo-finish expert George Moramoro across from Kokopo, East New Britain.
Teams had already begun arriving and by yesterday morning, about 150 athletes were at the event venue .
With the photo-finish camera, Moramoro can now capture fully electronic times for track races without the need for lots of timekeepers using manual stopwatches.
“Manual times can be very inaccurate, 1991 South Pacific Games 400m champion and former national record holder,” Babo said.
Laban thanked PNG Air for providing a ticket at short notice for Moramoro, and APNG for covering his accommodation cost.
Teams from districts around Kavieng and several high school sides, including Utu, Mongop, Madina , Namatanai and Lihir, are assembled for the two-and-half-day event which will conclude tomorrow.
Meanwhile, APNG secretary Philip Rehder said it was disappointing to hear of ongoing difficulties being faced by the New Ireland Athletics team who were also stranded in Port Moresby last year and did not make it to the national championships in Goroka and the PNG Games.
He appealed to provincial leaders to work with APNG to address the teams issues so the province is represented at national events.
“New Ireland has been a rich source of talent over the years and we hope that the athletes will not be let down again,” Rehder said.