Taekwondo holds selection meet

TAEKWONDO Papua New Guinea held a selection tournament at the Port Moresby International School on Saturday, ahead of February’s Olympic qualifier on the Gold Coast, Australia.
The tournament served as a selection for athletes — men and women — in their respective weight divisions.
Master Andy Rutten said a seminar prior to the tournament was vital in screening athletes to determine their level of fitness and technical abilities.
“I wanted to test everyone in different areas to see how they cope with the strain and mental focus,” he said.
“I also wanted to see where they were. This was an overall test to see who is actually up there and is possible to train with the team for the qualifier.
“I was pleasantly surprised that PNG has got a lot potential.
“There’s a lot of great potential here. Children are coming and showing great talent. It was an eye-opener and it’s pleasing to know that there’s a lot of talent here.”
Rutten said with less than two months until the qualifier, competency levels and experience among athletes were the main focus for selections if PNG were to go to the Olympics.
“The difficulty now will be to watch other countries and what athletes they will be putting in their weight divisions and I need to train four athletes in each division,” he said. “The difficult part is training them and bringing up to standard so that I can have athletes who I can work fast with.
“I’m going to give my best. The athletes will be ready to represent PNG to the best of their abilities in February.”