Oka finishes 4th in Okinawa windsurfing<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): National windsurfer Oka Sulaksana was able to
\nmuster only fourth place in an international windsurfing
\ncompetition in Okinawa, Japan, on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Oka, the 13th Asian Games gold medalist in the IMCO heavy
\ndivision in December, narrowly lost out with 33 points after
\nthird-ranked Tak Sum Wong of Hong Kong with 32.<\/p>\n
Japanese Kenjo Motokazu, the Asiad silver medalist, won first
\nplace with 19 and Chinese Yuanguo Zhan was second with 31 in the
\ncompetition, with 68 windsurfers from seven countries.<\/p>\n
Coach Iskandar Sitompul told Antara that Oka did his best to
\nfinish fourth since he was the only Indonesian compared to other
\ncountries which sent at least 10 windsurfers. Host Japan alone
\nenlisted 20 windsurfers.<\/p>\n
Iskandar also blamed Oka's loss on old equipment.<\/p>\n
"Oka lost due to outdated equipment. We are still using the
\n1997-made mistral which was also used in the Southeast Asia
\nGames, while other countries used 1999-produced mistrals which
\nare specially made for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Iskandar called on the Indonesian Yachting and Windsurfing
\nAssociation (Porlasi) to start its training camp soon to prepare
\nnational windsurfers for the Olympics qualifying round. The camp
\nwill also drill Oka for the Pre-Olympics in Sydney in September.<\/p>\n
"Porlasi and the Indonesian Sports Council should discuss on
\nproviding better equipment. If they fail to do so,
\nwindsurfing should withdraw from the 2000 Olympics before we came
\nonly as a participant," he said.<\/p>\n
Oka finished 13th in his Olympic debut in Atlanta, Georgia,
\nthree years ago.<\/p>\n
The Balinese native, 27, is gearing up for the Asia-Pacific
\nzone qualifying tournament for the World Championship in Guam
\nthis month. He needs to compete in all events to land an Olympic
\nberth.<\/p>\n
Only 40 windsurfers will qualify for the Olympics. Eligibility
\nwill be based on the World Championship in New Caledonia in
\nNovember, the Pre-Olympics in Sydney in February 2000, plus
\nwinners of the Asia Pacific, Australia Oceania, North America,
\nSouth America and Europe zones. The international windsurfing
\nbody will also provide five wild cards, including one for the
\nhost country. (ivy)<\/p>",
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