Athletes gather at Australia's Arafura Games
In the preparations for the South Pacific Games, atheltes are gathering in Australia for the Arafura Games. Radio Australia's sports reporter Tanya O'Shea looks at the hot contenders.

In a world exploding with sports events, the Arafura Games had to think, position, position, position.

They've grabbed the 'development' niche in the Asia Pacific - beckoning emerging athletes to relax, come and play, without the pressures of Olympic or world class competitors.

Every two years Arafura bridges that gap between age group events and the South East Asian Games, the East Asian Games, the Asia Indoor Games, the Asian Games, the South Pacific Games, the mini South Pacific Games, the list goes on.

Papua New Guinea's Commonwealth Games butterfly gold medallist, Ryan Pini took to Darwin's pool before going on to greater things.

And while Arafura isn't for Olympians or world champions, Pini will rack up competition hours and compete this week as an invitational athlete.

One of Singapore's shooters credits his taste of international competition at Darwin for his gold medal win at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

Pacific Island sport federations will use it to build towards the South Pacific Games in Samoa in August.

Papua New Guinea's a good example of this, sending 200 athletes in nine sports - as part of qualifying requirements for Samoa.

Coaches and administrators get a chance to attend conferences and develop skills.

The Arafura Games began in 1991 as a festival of sport with 1500 participants from seven countries competing in 13 sports.

By the eighth games in 2005, there where 3,000 athletes from 32 nations, competing across 30 sports.

Arafura doubles as the Oceania Paralympic Championship - the Paralympics movement is developing major games on each of the continents.

In Asia, it will become part of the Asian Games with a budget four times that of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

Last games in Darwin, there where 30 athletes in Paralympic sports, this year there's 300.

Darwin, a city of one hundred thousand people, is coping with the influx by scheduling able-bodied and Paralympic events side by side.

The 100 metres sprint heats, the cycle road race, swimming - it's all integrated.

The signature event this year is the wheelchair basketball competition - Asia and Oceania's qualifier for the Beijing Paralympics.

Five countries will be going all out - Iran, Kuwait and South Korea are in Darwin for the first time while Japan and Australia will be trying to secure top seeding in Beijing.

Another big event will be the Asian martial art of sepak takraw, or silly soccer, always a crowd pleaser.

Weightlifting getting bigger each year, 20 countries, including Oceania's best, have entered the Commonwealth junior weightlifting championships.

Most sports teams pay their own way to Darwin. The wealthier teams, such as New Caledonia, will be at five star hotels, where-as the Filipino team is entirely billeted through the local community.

The local Filipino community gets together every two years and arranges an array of welcoming events and home stays to support the team.

So, from humble beginnings Darwin's Arafura Games is firmly planted on the sporting, cultural and development landscape.

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