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TAEKWONDO Papua New Guinea is targeting 16 gold medals in the upcoming Pacific Games after successfully concluding its national championship on Sunday, April 2nd.
President John Cholai said they were certain the national team would perform well in the 2023 Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands, judging from the energetic performances by fighters from Southern, the New Guinea Islands and Highlands during the two-day event.
We would like to have our gold medalists from this championship aim for gold as well in the Pacific Games and the way forward is to train them well.
Prior to this event, we hosted regional championships where winners were declared to qualify for the national event.
Clubs brought their best fighters to compete in the tournament so we could select a train-on squad for the Pacific Games.
John Cholai
He said the winners in each category qualified to be in the train-on squad for both divisions.
The gold medalists from the national championships will be the first choice followed by the silver medalists on reserve and bronze on standby.
There are eight weight categories in each division which we are looking at 16 golds in total for taekwondo.
We would like to get an athlete from each category to represent PNG because we have a shot at winning gold medals for the country, but the way forward will be to train them well.
Cholai
He said the squad would attend local and international competitions to ensure they were fit and prepared for the Pacific Games.
Championship winners: Female: Yvette Boyama (46kg), Rose Tona (49kg), Amanda Kanau (53kg), Andrea Wagiam (57kg), Elizabeth Siala (62kg), Enila Soma (67kg), Edna Jack (73kg).
Male: Bobby Willie (54kg), Paul Mou (58kg), Derek Kassman (63kg), Kevin Kassman (68kg), Max Kassman (74kg), Vespa John (80kg), Rex Roko (87kg), Sam Ware (87+kg) and Para-athlete Adrian Paupi (58kg).
