PNG squash in rebuilding phase in ‘18

The National Sports

KEEPING the momentum rolling is the main objective for Team PNG in squash as they prepare for the Commonwealth Games next week.
The team is small with two athletes Lynnette Vai (female), Madako Suari Jr (male) and team manager Konio Vai.
Suari Jr and Vai are the country’s best squash players having won gold medals at the 2015 Pacific Games and have played in tournaments overseas.
“Going to the Commonwealth Games is to keep the spirit of the sport alive,” Konio Vai said.
“We think that it is a dying sports in PNG, because we are struggling to get numbers.
“That is why only two of our top squash athletes will attend the event.
“We just want to keep the interest alive and give our top athletes the opportunity to compete at the top level and get the exposure they need.”
Vai said squash in PNG was going through some challenging times but had not allowed the negatives to creep into affecting preparations for the games.
“We’ve had a late start for squash in terms of the overall organisation of the sport, and it has been a bit challenging unlike in previous years,” Vai said.
“We had our athletes attend only one tournament last year which was the Australian National Championships.
“At the Australian National Championships Madako and Lynnette came fourth in their divisions.
“This year both athletes attended the Australian Nationals again in Melbourne and this time the competition was a bit tougher.
“The lack of preparation also impacted on their performance because Lynnette is a full-time university student now but they managed to get some good results out of that particular event.”
Lynnette Vai is currently in Melbourne and will travel straight to the Gold Coast while Suari Jr and Konio Vai will leave Port Moresby on Monday.
Both athletes are scheduled to take part in the respective events on April 5. In the men’s singles with a total of 54 entries, Suari Jr will take Scotsman Alan Clyne while Lynnette Vai faces Alison Thomson, also of Scotland, in the women’s singles competition which has a total of 35 entries.