By Elijahn Lavett – EM TV Sports, Port Moresby
The next couple of months will prove to be rather busy for many of the country’s best sportspeople, the least of which being a whole host of PNG weightlifters.
Papua New Guinean weightlifters will not only be competing events scheduled here at home, but also overseas.
The Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships will take place in October this year in India.
While they were competing in the Pacific Games, plans were already on the way for their preparations, with the games acting as a launching pad for these events scheduled for the remainder of the year.
Some lifters were sent back to Noumea in New Caledonia recently to continue training, and improving their technique to a level which will hold up on the world stage.
In Hockey, PNG will be attending the Oceania Cup in New Zealand in October, with hot competition sure to come from the host nation who are three-time defending champions at the event.
The winner of this tournament will get an automatic entry into the Rio 2016 Olympics. The strongest contenders for the Oceania Cup will not only be the hosts, New Zealand, but also from the likes of Australia and Fiji. PNG finished in fourth place in 2013, but will have a great chance of knocking off the big guns this year after their performance at the Pacific Games.
Other tournaments happening in the country will be the Touch Rugby Nationals, which kick off next month in Kokopo, and the Netball National Championships in Alotau later in the year.
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