Team PNG arrives in numbers to familiar welcome
The first 150 athletes and team officials from Papua New Guinea to arrive at the Samoa 2019 XVI Pacific Games were treated to a colourful welcome from Samoa’s PNG community at the Games Village on Thursday evening.
Traditional PNG singing and dancing greeted the delegation on arrival at the village, in an effort organised jointly by Team PNG and Papua New Guineans residing in Samoa.
Emmanuel Kalau, a Papua New Guinean who lives and works in Samoa, said: "To be part of the community to welcome our professional athletes is a pleasure. I have friends who are part of Team PNG and I can’t wait to support my brothers. I was in PNG when it hosted the XV Pacific Games in 2015. It was a memorable moment for me, so to be in Samoa and witness the XVI Pacific Games is a blessing.”
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The PNG community in Samoa gathered to welcome Team PNG (Photo: Games News Service)
PNG team manager, Anzillah Miro, said: “We are satisfied with Samoa’s preparations. Thank you to the Pacific Games organising committee for assisting Team PNG. This is my first experience in Samoa. The villages are clean and decorated and it’s amazing to see the engagement of the communities in preparation for the Games. It feels very warm and welcoming.”
With only one day left until the opening ceremony, the PNG athletes and officials are now settling in with the ambition to perform their very best for their country.
Athletes and brothers Alvin and Felix Komolong, who will represent PNG in football, said: “It’s a pleasure to be in Samoa for the first time. We love it here and we look forward to seeing more of the country.
“We will be playing Samoa in our first game (when the men’s football event kicks off at JS Blatter Football Complex on Monday 8 July). It’s a tough pool we’re in, but we want to finish in the gold play-offs. Our aim is that medal. Last time in PNG we finished with bronze, and we’ve prepared to top that for this Games.”
With PNG readying to compete against its Pacific neighbours in a packed program of sports, some of the most important members of the team will be the physiotherapists. Two of them, Michelle Fae and Hendriella Vilosi said: “We love it here in Samoa. It was very clean and decorative when we drove in from the airport. We hope we will have the opportunity to experience more of the island before we leave.”
The second contingent of PNG athletes and officials, numbering 170, arrived on Friday.
