PNGOC selects athletes

By ROBINSON LEKA
THE Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee (PNGOC) says it is finalising a list of athletes for the Pacific Mini Games which will be held in the Northern Marianas in June.
PNGOC president Sir John Dawanicura said Team PNG had already confirmed its officials with the justification committee finalising numbers for its targeted sports.
“We’ve gone through the process of going to the justification committee for the officials,” he said.
“Our officials have now been endorsed, so the process now is for federations to justify their sports and justify their officials and athletes.
“Firstly, we have to justify the sports to participate internationally and obviously they have to have the track record and the potential to win gold.”
Sir John reiterated the relevance of justifying sports before international events with funding always a challenge when sending teams to compete abroad.
PNGOC, last month, announced team officials for the Pacific Mini Games with Kila Dick to lead the national contingent as the chef de mission.
The targeted sports are athletics, beach volleyball, golf, tennis, va’a (canoe racing) and weightlifting.
Meanwhile, Trukai Industries Ltd announced its continued partnership for Team PNG and PNGOC with the company donating 50,000 Fun Run T-shirts to be auctioned to raise funds.
Trukai marketing manager Maryanne Tom said there would be no actual Fun Run this year, however, proceeds from the sale of T-shirts would assist Team PNG.