A respectable fourth placed finish by Papua New Guinea (PNG) sprinter, Pais Wisil in the 100m Oceania Championships Final at Darwin’s Arufura Stadium, has him poised for national selection towards this year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland (Jul 23-Aug 2).

Adding further impetus towards selection, Wisil joined fellow PNG speedsters Timothy Tuna, Leroy Kamau and Daniel Baul in claiming a silver medal in the 4 x 100m Men’s Relay, setting a new national record of 40.17 seconds, just behind winners New Zealand who finished in 39.64 seconds.

Already a member of the preliminary 20-person Athletics PNG Commonwealth Games squad, Wisil’s 10.39 seconds recorded in the 100m final, 10.42 seconds semi-final effort, plus his quickest 10.33 seconds heat finish, are all hovering around his personal best of 10.24 seconds across the 100m distance.

In Darwin, Wisil showed the benefits of a five-week competition freshen up since last month’s Australian Athletics Championships in Sydney, where he converted 10.56 seconds across the distance, among a field that included newly crowned Australian national champion, Lachlan Kennedy.

That experience, where Kennedy clocked the quickest 100m sprint ever recorded in Australia (9.96 secs), serves as the perfect yardstick towards Wisil’s debut Commonwealth Games ambitions.

“This year’s competition schedule is intense and as an athlete you wouldn’t want it any other way leading into a Commonwealth Games,” confirmed Wisil.

“But at this stage in such an important season in my career, there’s a lot to be gained from focussing on what we can improve on in training. Our gains were significant between race meets and that showed in Darwin, so who knows what we can pull together across the next two months.

“It’s also benefitting my times and ensuring consistency in competition, as I come up against Australasia’s best.

“I showed in the Oceania final, maintaining the lead through the early stages, that I can more than match it with the best in the world and this gives me added confidence.”

Full in the knowledge of what needs to happen to ensure absolute competitiveness among the World’s elite athletes, Wisil’s Gold Coast based Coach, Tony Fairweather is plotting the perfect assault towards global competition in Glasgow.

“There’s stiff competition among PNG athletes wanting to book their place in the team travelling to Scotland and Pais has done himself and his country proud with his efforts here in Darwin,” confirmed Fairweather.

“We wanted to be competing for medals at the Oceania Champs and there’s little doubt we were in the mix during the final.

“Pais continues to lead the way for PNG athletes and while it’s a waiting game to see if he’s done enough to make the national team, our commitment to bringing his best to the track will continue.

“The prep remains unchanged, with a focus on acceleration and then being able to maintain his undoubted power through to the finish line and all going well he’ll be at his peak for Glasgow.”

Results: Oceania Athletics Championships – 100m Men’s Final

1^st  : Joshua Azzopardi (Australia) – 10.21 seconds

2^nd : Jackson Rowe (Australia) – 10.26 seconds

3^rd : Tiaan Whelpton (New Zealand) – 10.30 seconds

4^th : Pais Wisil (PNG) – 10.39 seconds