After a 3-year absence due to covid-19 and other related factors the sport of taekwondo is slowly but surely back with the staging of regional tournaments in the past months.
With the Pacific Games coming up at the back end of the year, Taekwondo PNG is not resting on its laurels after a brief hiatus.
In the past months a number of regional tournaments were successfully run in the New Guinea Islands and Momase regions, followed by the Southern region over the weekend at the Taurama Aquatic Centre.
A team from New Ireland, Karanas Taekwondo, also participated apart from host NCD and Central.
The two-day tournament started on Saturday and concluded successfully on Sunday with finals in the various divisions from novices, juniors to seniors.
Vice President Taekwondo, PNG Master Jamuga Stone, said it was encouraging to see the interest coming back, particularly the novices and juniors taking up the sport. Stone said these young fighters will be the next generation that they are targeting to develop and take the sport forward in 3 to 5 years’ time.
He was quite surprised by the skill level and technics displayed by some of the younger athletes, with great potential to excel in the sport. Onto the seniors, Stones singled out current top PNG female fighter Rose Tona, as still a force to be reckoned with.
The regional taekwondo tournaments are being used as a platform to select the best fighters, both current and up and coming, for the national titles which is scheduled for the end of this month