Indonesia has modest goal at SE Asian junior volleyball meet<\/p>\n
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
With Thailand expected to remain top dog, Indonesia will be
\nlooking for a modest goal when it hosts the upcoming Southeast
\nAsian (SEA) Junior Men's Volleyball Championship in Jakarta next
\nmonth.<\/p>\n
The biennial volleyball event will run from June 16 to 20 and
\nfeatures teams from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and
\nVietnam.<\/p>\n
The teams will play a round-robin competition. The pairings
\nshow that Indonesia will begin against Singapore, while Thailand
\nis its final opponent.<\/p>\n
\"We are determined to beat the other three opponents before
\ntaking on Thailand in the final match on the closing day,\"
\nIndonesian team's coach Syamsul Jais told a press conference here
\non Tuesday.<\/p>\n
He admitted to having known little about their opponent's
\nstrength.<\/p>\n
\"But it's almost certain that they play like their senior
\ncompatriots. We will be trying to match them. It does not mean
\nthe odds are staked completely against us. We do have a chance to
\nbeat them and what we'll do is try to exploit even a slim
\nadvantage to our favor,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Thailand has dominated the tournament. Last time round,
\nIndonesia had to be content with fourth place.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is currently grooming 16 junior players, whose
\naverage age is 18 years old, at the Sentul Volleyball Training
\nCenter in Bogor, West Java.<\/p>\n
The team, under the coaching duo of Syamsul and Australian
\nAndrew Strugnell, was fielded in the recent Proliga professional
\nvolleyball league, in which it was pitted against its seniors.<\/p>\n
Syamsul, who is a former national star, said that after having
\nbeen trained by Strugnell, whose training method was aimed at
\nrebuilding solid teamwork, the team looked more confident.<\/p>\n
Syamsul, whose last appearance as a player was at the 1998
\nAsian Games in Bangkok, also hinted at a change of play by his
\nsquad, saying the team would be instructed to be more guarded
\nagainst open attack.<\/p>\n
\"During their matches at Proliga, they were too open in their
\nplay. That backfired,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Syamsul also revealed the players' names he was likely to
\nfield for the starting lineup.<\/p>\n
The team will lie its strength mainly on Dody Sumirat, Brian
\nAlvianto, Muhammad Riviansyah, I Wayan Windu Segama, Joni
\nSugiatno, Rusli Hidayat and libero Lutfi Khairus Ansor.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-has-modest-goal-at-se-asian-junior-volleyball-meet-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}