Papua New Guinea athlete Samantha Kassman lost in the first round at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro ©Getty Images

Taekwondo Papua New Guinea President John Cholai has set a podium target for next year's Olympic Games in Tokyo as the team prepares for the Korean Ambassador's Cup.

The competition is being held today at Caritas Technical Secondary School in Port Moresby and Cholai wants his athletes to use the event to sharpen up in the build-up to next month's Pacific Games in Samoa. 

He said: "Papua New Guineans have a natural flair for sports, including martial arts and taekwondo.

"With the right choice of exponents who have the natural talents combined with great character, and given the right dose of coaching and training, taekwondo aims to deliver four gold medals at the Pacific Games as our contribution to Team Papua New Guinea’s goal of winning on foreign soil.

"Taekwondo aims to also deliver a podium finish at the Tokyo Olympics."

Taekwondo Papua New Guinea President John Cholai has set his targets on a podium place at Tokyo 2020 ©Getty Images
Taekwondo Papua New Guinea President John Cholai has set his targets on a podium place at Tokyo 2020 ©Getty Images

The Korean Ambassador's Cup will be a one-day event, starting at 8.30am local time.

Cholai added: "Up to 80 taekwondo exponents from clubs, especially in the National Capital District and Central, have been hard at training to win prizes and medals in their respective weight categories.

"They will compete mainly in the kyorugi [fighting] categories."

Apart from the Pacific Games, Taekwondo PNG is aiming to compete in the President's Cup and Australian Open, the final international event for Team PNG athletes before they travel to Samoa.