Raminai pays tribute to Guise

THE sporting fraternity in Papua New Guinea has been in mourning over the past two months following the passing of several prominent sporting personalities.
Sports Minister Wesley Raminai paid tribute to these great men and woman, adding that each of them had touched the lives of thousands of Papua New Guineans in their respective disciplines in sports.
The most recent passing was that of rugby union coach Douglas Guise, who graduated into that role, following a distinquished career as a player.
Raminai relayed his sincere condolences to the family and friends of the former Pukpuks captain, who collapsed during training last Thursday in Port Moresby and couldn’t be revived despite being rushed to the hospital.
Guise had set some high standards that made him a great loss to the game.
Among his achievements as an international player, Guise made the transition to coaching quite successfully, taking the Pukpuk sevens brand back to the world stage.
“He is a great loss to rugby in PNG,” Raminai said in a statement yesterday.
“He had also made quite an impression with his coaching ability at the world level, particularly in 7s rugby, and was highly regarded for his great personality as well.
“My deepest condolences to his family and friends in these most difficult times.”
Raminai also used the opportunity to pay tribute to the other three prominent personnel who had passed on over the past two months.
“The past couple of months haven’t been good for sports as we have lost some very influential sporting personalities, who have made significant contributions to their respective sports, either as athletes or coaches,” he said.
Raminai said Elanga Buala passed away early this monnth.
She was prominent in athletics, her highest achievement wass representing PNG at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, United States.
Raminai said last year didn’t end well in December as tennis lost Kwalum Apisah and before that the loss of Iwila Jacobs who made huge contributions to weightlifting and powerlifting.