Shorts guys to 'Voli' in Jakarta<\/p>\n
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Five countries, including Indonesia, will participate in the
\nSampoerna Hijau Voli World U-185 Championship here at the Senayan
\nIndoor Stadium from Oct. 6 to Oct. 10.<\/p>\n
Chief of the organizing committee Jetty Pattiasina said that
\nthis would be the first men's volleyball competition in the world
\nwhich uses a height limit for the participants.<\/p>\n
\"I read in a survey report that approximately 75 percent of
\nthe world's population is less than 185 centimeters (6 feet 2
\ninches) tall.<\/p>\n
\"Therefore, we should hold a competition that enables the
\nmajority of the world's population to take part in the event,\"
\nJetty told reporters during a press conference on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Volleyball teams from Japan, Chinese Taipei, Russia and
\nMyanmar have confirmed their participation in the event, which
\noffers the Borobudur Cup but no prize money.<\/p>\n
\"Actually there were eight countries listed as the
\ncompetition's participants, but Thailand, Brazil and Georgia
\nwithdrew from the event last week,\" Rita Subowo, chairman of the
\nIndonesian Volleyball Association (PBVSI) said.<\/p>\n
Rita added that Brazil and Georgia canceled their
\nparticipations due to security reasons following the bombing of
\nthe Australian Embassy in Jakarta on Sept. 9, while Thailand's
\nteam only said it was not ready.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Indonesia's team manager Zulfarshah admitted that
\nthe team did not have proper training for the event after the
\nNational Games (PON) held early this month.<\/p>\n
\"We've only had two weeks since PON and most of our players
\nwere playing in PON, so it's difficult to gauge our chances,\"
\nZulfarshah said.<\/p>\n
He also added that most of the players from the foreign teams
\nwere relatively new so he could not predict, which of them would
\nbe the local team's toughest opponent.<\/p>\n
However, he was confident that Indonesia could beat Chinese
\nTaipei and Myanmar but was unsure about the team's chances of
\ndefeating Russia and Japan.<\/p>\n
\"We won 3-2 over Chinese Taipei in a volleyball championship
\nin Qatar last year and we also won 3-0 over Myanmar at the SEA
\nGames in 2003,\" Zulfarshah said.<\/p>\n
Although it would be difficult for Indonesia to win the event
\nagainst rivals Japan and Russia, Rita said that the main purpose
\nof holding this event was to promote the competition as FIVB's
\nregular competition in the future.<\/p>\n
\"We hope that FIVB will include this competition in its annual
\nagenda and we also hope that the U-185 competition will be
\nincluded in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, although it would
\nbe in the form of an exhibition event,\" Rita said.<\/p>\n
Rita also revealed the plan of making a similar competition
\nfor women called the World U-175 Volleyball Championship in 2005.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/shorts-guys-to-voli-in-jakarta-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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