Nurfitriyana has trouble focusing<\/p>\n
CHIANG MAI, Thailand (AFP): Nurfitriyana Lantang has trouble
\nfocusing as she ponders Indonesia's first Olympic gold in
\narchery. Inferior opposition -- at least on paper -- stand in the
\nway of the Southeast Asian Games women's team title.<\/p>\n
The sole survivor of the Seoul Olympics silver medal-winning
\nIndonesians, Nurfitriyana leads her defending champion team
\nagainst the Thais in today's women's semifinals with their
\nconfidence shot to pieces after losing the individual gold on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
\"We've been practicing very hard, but the mental training is
\nvery difficult,\" the 33-year-old Jakarta bank clerk said.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian women archers are one of the few athletes at
\nthese 10-nation biennial games with true Olympic pedigree.<\/p>\n
They were third in the 1995 world championships on home soil,
\nthe best among southeast Asian teams, though Nurfitriyana did not
\nfare very well individually.<\/p>\n
Typically, she was eliminated early in these games' individual
\nevent, won by Joann Tabanag of the Philippines, who said
\nWednesday's result should warn the Indonesians against over-
\nconfidence.<\/p>\n
\"The crowd will be cheering for the other teams, because they
\nare tired of seeing the Indonesians on top,\" Tabang added.
\nNurfitriyana hopes a SEA games gold will prime her team for a
\nsimilar result in next year's Atlanta Olympics.<\/p>\n
If they go on to enter the final they might well meet the team
\nof Tabanag, which includes two over-achieving high school
\nstudents aged 15 and 16. They face Malaysia in the other
\nsemifinal.<\/p>\n
Pingpong diplomacy<\/p>\n
Former Chinese national table tennis player Jing Jun Hong has
\nwon her first match at the Games -- that of eligibility.<\/p>\n
Singapore manager Terry Tan said the International Table
\nTennis Federation (ITTF) has allowed Jing, now Singapore's top
\nplayer, to compete in the women's singles and doubles, but not in
\nthe team events.<\/p>\n
\"She is certainly going for gold and is feeling quite good.
\nShe knows she is the favorite,\" Tan told the official Chiang Mai
\ngames paper Sawasdee.<\/p>\n
Jing, who married a Singaporean and changed her nationality,
\nwas following the footsteps of another top Chinese woman table
\ntennis star who won a Japanese passport and a gold in the 1994
\nHiroshima Asian Games.<\/p>\n
China had objected to Jing's appearance in the last world
\nchampionships, citing a rule that athletes in her situation
\ncannot play at that level for six years after adopting a new
\npassport.<\/p>\n
\"I went right to the top of our sport, the ITTF, which issues
\nthe world rules,\" Tan said.<\/p>\n
\"They told me quite definitely that the ban on Jing applies at
\nworld championship and international open levels only. The SEA
\ngames fits neither classification.\"<\/p>\n
Tan added: \"We feel that she should be allowed to continue her
\nsport and help lift everyone's standards.\"<\/p>",
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