The competition times and draws for PNG athletes competing in the Tokyo Olympic Games have been finalized.
Team PNG High-Performance Coordinator, Chris Amini, said that four of the five sports that Team PNG is competing in, held their final technical meetings during the day (yesterday) to finalize competition times, entries, and draws for the respective sports and events.
“Our weightlifters arrived late last night into the Games Village and were quickly into the swing of things. Morea and Dika did not waste any time, as they got straight into training this morning (yesterday),” said Amini.
PNG’s golden girl Dika Toua will be the first Team PNG athlete to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games in the Women’s 49kg event. The event begins at 9:50 am (10:50 am PNG time) on Saturday 24 July. This is Dika’s fifth Olympic Games appearance.
Sunday 25 July will see Morea Baru take the platform at 11:50 am (12:50 PNG time) in the Men’s 61kg event. Baru will be looking to improve on his sixth-place ranking gained at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Boxing also completed its sports entry check. The check involves officials verifying the medical certificates of all boxers, their uniforms, and record cards, to ensure they are fit to fight.
The Boxing technical meeting and the competitions draws were held at the Kokugikan Arena where the competition will take place. In a battle of the Oceania region, John Ume was drawn against Australia’s Harry Garside in the Men’s Lightweight (63kg) and the bout will take place on Sunday 25 July at 7:54 pm (8:54 pm PNG time) in the Round of 32.
Sailing also had its technical meet to ensure that all sailors understood the racing rules that will need to be complied with as well as familiarizing themselves with the local conditions for the racing regatta.
The sibling sailors spent the day testing their allocated laser dinghies, rigging them to suit, and spending time on the water to familiarize themselves with the conditions.
Sarenah Pini, long-time manager of PNG swimming attended the aquatic technical meeting where final entries to events and season-best times are recorded to allow the allocation of athletes into their heats. Final heat times will be confirmed on Friday 23 July. Ryan Maskelyne and Judith Meauri are expected to arrive in Tokyo today.
Athletics will be the final sport to complete formalities, as traditionally Athletics is held in the second week of any multi-sport games. Rellie Kaputin and her coach will arrive in Tokyo on Wednesday 28 July.
EMTV will be telecasting the Tokyo Games on TV and live stream on our social media platforms.
Team PNG’s Facebook page will also have regular updates of Team PNG in Toko.
