Indonesia has hopes for 19 golds<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Based on a medal assessment conducted by sport organizations,
\nIndonesia has a good chance at winning between 18 and 19 gold
\nmedals at the 2002 Asian Games, a national training director has
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"Given our evaluation of the athletes' progress during
\ntraining, we have a good chance at winning between 18 and 19
\ngolds. That means we would surpass President Megawati's
\nexpectations,\" Imron ZS told Antara on Monday.<\/p>\n
He was referring to the President's meeting with the athletes
\nin July, when Megawati announced that she expected Indonesia to
\nbring home 15 golds from the Asian Games, which will run in
\nBusan, South Korea, from Sept. 29 to Oct. 14.<\/p>\n
Indonesia grabbed six golds to finish in eleventh place among
\n42 participating countries at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok.<\/p>\n
The National Sports Council (KONI), which is responsible for
\nthe athletes' preparations, has decided to send 100 athletes to
\ncompete in the 20 sporting events in Busan.<\/p>\n
Imron refused to mention the sports in which the team would
\nprobably be winning medals.<\/p>\n
\"I can't mention them as that would affect the athletes,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Imron said if he specified the sport or events at which
\nathletes stood a good chance at securing a medal, then the
\nparticipants might suffer from psychological pressure.<\/p>\n
\"On the other hand, if athletes are said to have less than
\ngood medal prospects, they may lose their drive to win,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"This affects athletes' mentality,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Taking into consideration the country's past medal record at
\nthe Asian Games and the level of competition it will face in the
\nnext round of games, Indonesia can expect golds from badminton,
\ncycling, karate, rowing, weight-lifting and yachting.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the results of the recently concluded Indonesia
\nOpen badminton championship, which witnessed a number of national
\ntraining members flop in their campaign, Imron said that he was
\nstill confident about their prospects in Busan.<\/p>\n
The home side took two of the five gold medals up for grabs
\nthrough Taufik Hidayat in the men's singles and Bambang
\nSuprianto\/Minarti Timur in the mixed doubles.<\/p>\n
The most deplorable miss at the Surabaya meet, which was the
\nfinal tryout prior to the athletes' trip to Busan, was the defeat
\nof the world's number one pair of Candra Wijaya and Sigit
\nBudiarto.<\/p>\n
But Imron brushed aside assumptions that the failure might
\ncarry on to Busan, saying that they would need to readapt to each
\nother after having been apart for some time.<\/p>\n
\"I'm convinced that they remain the world's best and have a
\nvery good prospect at winning the gold medal at the Asian Games,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-has-hopes-for-19-golds-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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