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Two potential gold medal athletes in the sport of karate have been overlooked for selection and placed in the reserve team, Post Courier reports.
The athletes; Sailas Piskaut and Atomu Amani, both from the Kyokushin style and despite being champions in their own right, do not understand why they have been overlooked by national selectors.
Piskaut and Amani are currently undergoing a three month uchi-deshi program under former champion Bernard Soari in preparation for the games.
Kyokushin karate has a history of bringing gold from the Pacific Games with the latest being Melisa Turia in 2011 in New Caledonia. In the 1999 South Pacific Games in Guam, Sensei Walter Schnaubelt brought back two gold medals in the 84+ and Open divisions respectively.
Piskaut, who is a shodan was also the 2011 Australian Kyokushin National Champion in the lightweight division and 2013 PNG National and Open kumité and kata champion. Meanwhile, Atomu is a gold medallist in the 70kg division in the 2012 PNG Games.
