Weightlifting sensation Morea Baru bagged a Silver medal for Team PNG, at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games yesterday, Saturday 30th July.
The three-time Commonwealth Games sensation lifted 121kg in the Snatch and 152kg in the Clean and Jerk scoring a total lift of 273kg in the Men’s 61kg division finishing second to Malaysia’s, Muhamad Aznil Bin Bidin who scored 285kg.
India won bronze with a total lift of 269kg.
This is the second time Baru has won a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games, the last one was at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia
Witnessing and supporting Morea were Team PNG athletes and officials including PNG Commonwealth Games Association President, Sir John Dawanincura, PNG Sports Foundation Executive Director, Albert Veratau and Team PNG Chef de Mission, Michael Henao.
An elated Henao congratulated Morea saying: "Morea Baru's performance today at Birmingham 2022 was brilliant. He put on a strong performance against the Commonwealth's best and came home with a Silver Medal, putting Team PNG onto the medal tally.
“Baru's quiet, humble demeanour continues to inspire Team PNG, and we join Morea, his family and all Papua New Guineans at home and across the world in congratulating Morea on this fantastic achievement!”
In the Women’s category, our female champion, Dika Toua took to the platform in what proved to be a highly competitive 49kg division missing out on a medal by a mere 1kg.
Toua lifted 74kg in the Snatch and 96kg in the Clean and Jerk, settling in with a total of 170kg.
To swimming, Team PNG’s Ryan Maskelyne broke his own record of 1:03.89 in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke setting a new national record with a time of 1:03.31.
Team PNG's Georgia-Leigh Vele also set a personal best in the Women's 50m Freestyle finishing with a time of 27.8 seconds.
In squash, Team PNG’s Amity Alarcos went down fighting to England’s Lucy Turmel 3-0 in the Women’s Singles.