By Verolyn Nombri

THE Madang Touch pre-season competition kicked off successfully over the weekend with 16 teams participating in both men and women's divisions.

The teams were Sting coins, Paramed Mosong tribes, Mix mates, Black Heads, Pirates, Track, and British American Tobacco (BAT) Caddies. In the open men's division Mix mates defeated the Blackheads 6-3. In the open women's match Sting coins defeated Kalibobo guns 3-2 while Paramed and Leftovers played a tough game resulting in a 3-all draw. Paramed, which was made up of DWU students, was impressive although it was the first time for the team to take part in the town competition. Madang Touch Association (MTA) President Walter Mombi said it was the first time for an educational institution to join in the competition. President Mombi said the preseason games should have started a month a ago but due to the softball finals and preparations for the national championships, the competition was delayed. He said the delay was to give ample time for the softballers to complete their games. Meanwhile, MTA is looking forward to host the national touch championship this year. The championship has been scheduled for the Queens Birthday weekend from June 9 to 12 by the PNG Touch Federation. Mr Mombi said however, MTA has decided to postpone the date of the event to July 21 to 24.He said the new dates were tentative and needed to be confirmed and approved by the PNG Touch Federation president and his committees. The championship games will be held at Divine Word University grounds.Madang has three touch associations and they are Madang , Sisiak and Siar which is just outside the town. MTA will do the selection of players for the championship as the town competition continues. Centers who wish to take part in the national championships should contact the President Walter Mombi on 852 2644 or Vice President Peter Bernard on 8522044 for more information.

Source:: Liklik Diwai (http://www.dwu.ac.pg/faculties/ca/LikLikDiwaiPDFFiles/LiklikDiwaiIssue0512May2006.pdf)