Team PNG rakes 13 medals in police Australasian games

Team PNG, who took part in the 16th Australasian Police and Emergency Services Games, returned this afternoon from Sunshine Coast, Australia.

A team of 77 police men and women attended the week-long gaming event, taking part in rugby 7s, rugby 9s, tennis, track and field, shot put, discus, 100m sprints, basketball, snooker billiards as well as dart.

RPNGC media director Dominic Kakas says the trip was very successful.

Team PNG won two silver medals in basketball, two gold medals, two silver and a bronze medal in dart, a silver medal in snooker, a silver medal in discus, a silver in shot put, and a gold for the 100m sprints.

The team defeated Queensland Fire Service, including a combined Australian side in Rugby 7s, winning two gold medals for PNG.

The team brought back 13 medals; (five gold, seven silver and a bronze medal).

“In rugby 9s, our team lost to the New Zealand Police Service,” says Kakas.

“The police men and women were good ambassadors who represented our country very well, both on and off the field,” Kakas says.

Kakas says RPNGC is hoping to increase the number of participants in the other sporting codes that missed out this year.

Initially, only 10 participants would have taken part in the games. However, with the great support and funding from major sponsor Kumul Consolidated, RPNGC was able to send a big team down for the event.

The Australasian Police and Emergency Services Games is a biennial event. It gives participants from the police, fire, emergency and other services of Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island countries like PNG, the opportunity to share a common bond through law enforcement and emergency service.

This is to help build friendship and promote healthy living through sports whilst heightening public awareness of police and emergency services.

The 17th Australasian Police and Emergency Services Games will be held two years from now (2018) in Perth, Australia.

Author: 
Annette Kora