9 athletes selected for team Melanesia

The Oceania Athletic Association has named a team of 19 athletes, including 9 from PNG, to represent Melanesia at the Oceania Cup, which will be held in Nuku’alofa, Tonga, on October 30th and 31st.

Teams have also been announced for Micronesia and Polynesia, and Oceania AA will fully fund all three.
The Oceania Cup is a team competition, with each team composed of up to ten male and up to ten female athletes.

It is understood that there will also be teams from Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, Regional Australia, and Hawaii.

The events to be held in this competition are 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 3000m, 110m hurdles and 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles, long jump, triple jump, high jump, javelin, shot put, discus and hammer throw.

The teams for Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia were selected by the Oceania AA based on names put forward by National Federations and taking into account recent performances.

Athletics PNG President Tony Green said since there are only limited places available and all countries in Melanesia must be represented, it means that some of PNG's better athletes missed out.

On the other hand, there are some events which are quite weak in the region and PNG athletes have been selected to fill those spots.

The PNG Athletes selected are Male Pais Wisil [100m, 200m], Daniel Baul (400m and 400m hurdles, Jiuteis Robinson (1500m and 3000m), Karo Iga [High Jump and shot put], Lucas Osida [discus and Javelin], and Lakona Gerega [Javelin]. Female: Scholastica Herman [800m and 1500m], Nicklyne Kalua [1500m and 3000m], and Raylyne Kanam [400m hurdles].

Brett Green will be the manager of the men's team for Melanesia, and Vaciseva Tavaga of Fiji the Manager of the women's team.