U18 Oceania hockey championships start

THE opening ceremony of the Under-18 Oceania Youth Olympic Qualifiers was held yesterday at the Sir John Guise Indoor Complex in Port Moresby.
The four teams that took part in the ceremony were Australia, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and hosts Papua New Guinea.
Tonga, who were confirmed to take part, pulled out at the eleventh hour due to financial difficulties.
Fiji, on the other hand pulled, out earlier of their non-attendance due to Cyclone Josie.
Vice Sports Minister Wesley Raminai was given the honour of officially declaring the games open. Other important dignitaries that attended to welcome the visiting teams were PNG Sports Foundation executive officer Peter Tsiamalili Jr, PNG Hockey Federation Kaluwin Potuan and Oceania Hockey general secretary Bob Klaxton.
“I want to acknowledge the PNG government through the PNG Sports Foundation, who have worked hard to make this tournament possible here in Port Moresby,” Klaxton said. “In 2015 when the Pacific Games was held here, Oceania Hockey made a commitment to have an international event here so we’ve kept our promise.
“For the first time Oceania will have three spots for males and two spots for females in the Youth Olympics in Argentina in October, this is a great opportunity.”
Raminai acknowledged Oceania Hockey for working hard to ensure Oceania had more than one spot for the Youth Olympics.
Klaxton said the opportunity for Oceania to have more one spot was purposely structured to develop hockey in the Oceania region.
The tournament, which ends on Sunday, will also feature hockey fives — a shorter version of the sport — which was first introduced in the Youth Olympics in Beijing, China in 2014.
Unlike regular hockey, the fives game involves nine players on each side, on the field and four reserves. The game is split into three quarters, with each lasting 10 minutes.
Fixtures: Wed, April 25 – 0900 PNG v Solomon Is (men); 1000 Australia v Vanuatu (men); 1100 PNG v Vanuatu (women) 1200 Solomon Is v Australia (men).