Jakarta vies for PON title<\/p>\n
Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Sports Council has set itself the target of
\nregaining the overall championship winner's title at the 16th
\nNational Games (PON) in Palembang, South Sumatra, this September.<\/p>\n
Jakarta had been the overall champion since the seventh PON in
\n1969 until the last edition in Surabaya in 2000 when it was
\npushed into second place by the host in the final standings.<\/p>\n
The contingent from the capital city collected 116 gold
\nmedals, 16 less than the champion's.<\/p>\n
The upcoming PON, which will be the first ever held outside of
\nJava, will run from Sept. 2 to Sept. 14.<\/p>\n
Jakarta Sports Council chairman Fauzi Bowo said that Jakarta
\nwould have to take more than 50 percent of the medals on offer to
\nbe crowned as champions in the quadrennial multievent sporting
\nshowcase.<\/p>\n
\"We expect that we can take gold medals in paragliding, pencak
\nsilat, athletics, shooting and wushu because we have good
\nathletes in these sports ... hopefully, our gold medal targets
\nwill not prove excessive,\" he said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Fauzi said the council had been grooming 800 athletes for the
\ngames. This number would be whittled down to 600.<\/p>\n
\"We will begin sorting out the athletes in June to determine
\nthe best,\" Fauzi said.<\/p>\n
He said that the council was keeping an eye on potential
\nrivals as they might ruin Jakarta's hopes in the medal stakes.<\/p>\n
\"We are not only monitoring East Java and West Java but other
\nprovinces so that we can be sure of reaching our target this
\ntime,\" he said. East Java and West Java have been traditionally
\ntough opponents for Jakarta in the National Games.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jakarta-vies-for-pon-title-1447893297",
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