New Guinea Will Be

Main Challenger

It Noumea Games

By Jim Huxley, former managing-editor of “The New Guinea Times Courier”

[n my view, Papua-New Guinea should again erge as the main challenger to Fiji at the :ond South Pacific Games, to be held in umea next year. And the overall totals are fiy to be much closer than they were at Suva, en Fiji was too good a match for its rivals.

APUA-NEW GUINEA was second in the points table at Suva, with e gold medals, 12 silver, 11 bronze nd 62 points. This compared with ’s 34 gold medals, 23 silver, 27 nze—and 175 points. New Cale ia was third in the Suva point -e, with 50 points (seven gold, nine sr, 11 bronze), and, being the host ritory this time, she should have iral advantages. iji for the Second Games will not I a Rugby Union team, but Papua v Guinea will probably send one Noumea, despite the fact that on in the Territory has not reached where near as high a standard as ;by League. ut P-NG must pick up at least a ize medal, as it is probable that r two teams will contest the event le other being Western Samoa, ga has also declared itself out : year.

New System Is Better

ugby Union has been played only Moresby but efforts are be made to start the game at Rabaul. t Suva some events were decided a knock-out system, and because Lis Papua-New Guinea suffered.

Soccer and table tennis teams ; eliminated in the first round, yet e observers at the Games believed both teams, especially the Soccer would have gone on to better gs and most probably picked up edal and a point or two, if given r chances, he system has now been changed.

Noumea all team sports will be lucted with each team appearing everal matches. A points system decide the three placings. uring the two years since Suva, ja-New Guinea’s native athletes ■ shown great improvement. In icular this will be seen in track

and field, and on the basketball court.

A Soccer team of a higher standard should also be available for next year’s tournament.

In the last two years New Guinean players, but mainly from centres out side of Port Moresby, have practically dominated basketball. Natural ball playing youngsters of all sizes and ages have taken to the game, and many of the youths who were very ordinary in 1963 are now playing top class basketball.

When the team is selected next year I expect to see about five New Guineans in the Papua-New Guinea basketball squad.

Papua-New Guinea ran third in men’s basketball at Suva, and must again be rated a silver medal chance.

With a little luck they could do better, but again they will most probably have ahead of them the two teams which dominated the sport at Suva—French Polynesia and Ameri can Samoa.

Athletes from Papua-New Guinea, both men and women, can be expected to improve considerably on their per formances at Suva, where the men won seven gold medals.

This was borne out in August when the 1965 Territory Championships were held at Rabaul.

At Suva, European athletes won three of the major medals and relay teams (European and New Guineans) won two others.

New Guineans won the high jump and discus.

Next year the New Guineans can be expected to do better in the men’s events—both field and track—and the women should be 100 per cent, better than they were in 1963.

At the P-NG titles in Rabaul 55 events were contested and 18 records were broken.

Top officials, Cyril McCubbery, who was team manager at Suva, and Don Barrett, athletic manager and coach, were elated after the results at Rabaul and they confidently announced that Papua-New Guinea would “collect a bagful of medals at Noumea”.

And in my book, it does point that way.

Richter's Times

Bruce Richter, the Territory’s best sprinter, who is just short of world standard, won the 100 and 200 metre events at Rabaul.

His time for the 100 metres was 10.7 secs.—This is his best recorded effort over this distance, and only one-tenth of a second outside the South Pacific record.

And his 22.1 secs, for the 200 metres was also only one-tenth of a second outside his own record for the event, created at Suva.

Richter is sure to represent at Noumea and is certain to be right in the firing line again, but there are

The ball went well out of reach during this scramble for a goal during a women's interna tional rules basket ball match in Port

Moresby recently.

Photo: Australian News and Information.

:w Guinean runners who will im jve more than he will in the next ar or so.

One of these is A. Kaumata, of haul, who almost pipped Richter the 100 metres at the champion :ps. The two were credited with the ne time.

Kaumata finished second to Richter the 200 metres in his own best ic, 22.5 secs.

Other New Guineans to do well at haul were youngsters Sailas Tita, 10 was only inches away in the 100 ;tres final, Enos Friday and Eliakim ienge.

At Rabaul the women sprinters owed good form, but just how many them will make the grade in Dumea remains to be seen.

Papuans and New Guineans love play sport, and although green len they start in athletics, they are en and quick to learn. In no time all their times improve, they jump d throw better, and quickly find smselves pushing the stars of the oment.

Swimming is a sport at which ,pua-New Guinea would perhaps do tter if teenage youngsters attending :ondary schools in Australia could called on and sent to Noumea.

There are some excellent student swimmers in Australia, but with more secondary schools now in the Territory a swimming team of some ability may be organised during the next year.

The team can be expected to com prise mainly European children, not New Guineans. It was found in Suva that the Europeans were better com petitive swimmers than the natives, which was surprising.

Territory boxers did reasonably well at Suva and can be expected to do as well, but no better at Noumea, unless some kind of interest can be injected into both officials and fighters.

Efforts have been made to organise tournaments but so far this year they have met with very little success.

More interest is being shown in Rabaul than in other centres, because the Territory championships are being held there this year. If the Territory is to send a capable and truly repre sentative boxing team to Noumea many tournaments will have to be staged over the next few months.

Boxers with potential must be given every opportunity to improve their standards and they will only do this if they are engaged in actual combat in the ring.

Between now and the Games there should be at least four tournaments, with all Games’ team aspirants appear ing, organised in the main Territory centres.

Of the other sports at the Games Papua-New Guinea will no doubt be represented, and could pick up a medal or two, but it is too early yet to visualise who would go as tennis, table tennis, women’s basketball and volleyball representatives.

Attractive New

Swim Star

[?New Caledonia's gold medal swimming [?]e is attractive Simone Manner, a nde, green-eyed Noumea college lass, [?]o has been seriously swimming for y 18 months. Her father is captain a local coastal trader. Simone's best ent times are: 100 metres —1m 8-3/10s; [?] metres —2m 39s; 400 metres—5m 45s. are better than the top women's times Suva.—Fred Dunn.