Tae kwon do trainer Oh Il-nam under fire<\/p>\n
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Former national tae kwon do coaches Alex Harijanto and
\nDasantio Prihadi urged the Indonesian Tae Kwon Do Association
\n(TI) on Monday to dismiss Korean trainer Oh Il Nam.<\/p>\n
Alex, who is currently chief of development affairs at the
\nCentral Java chapter of TI, expressed disappointment that the
\npast decade had seen the performance of athletes continually
\ndecline.<\/p>\n
South Korean citizen Oh Il Nam joined the Indonesian Tae Kwon
\nDo association as a trainer in 1994.<\/p>\n
"It seems like Oh has failed to do his job in elevating the
\nperformance of our athletes. The country failed to get positive
\nresults at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, the Asian Games and
\nthe Olympic Games," Alex said.<\/p>\n
The country won six golds at the 1997 SEA Games in Jakarta,
\nbut had a disappointing one gold at the 1999 games and two golds
\nin both the 2001 and 2003 games.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's top tae kwon do athletes, Juana Wangsa Putri and
\nSatriyo Rahadani, crashed out in the first round at the 2004
\nOlympic Games in Athens.<\/p>\n
Juana's early exit was unexpected given her impressive run
\nleading up to the Olympics, which saw her win gold at the 2003
\nWorld Championship in Paris.<\/p>\n
At the Asian level, Juana and Dalam Imam ended the 2002 Asian
\nGames with only bronzes, which was seen as another disappointing
\nresult.<\/p>\n
Given this record, Alex said that Oh Il Nam should not be kept
\non as a trainer.<\/p>\n
However, he said the South Korean should be retained to help
\ntrain Indonesian coaches. "He is more qualified in that respect,"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Dasantio, who is currently a coach at the association's West
\nJava chapter, said Oh should have been fired as early as 2000, as
\npromised by the association during its annual meeting that year
\nin Palembang.<\/p>\n
"At the meeting, we agreed that we would not employ foreign
\ntrainers to handle our athletes .... I don't know why the central
\nboard is violating that agreement," he said.<\/p>\n
Admitting to being surprised by these comments about Oh, TI
\nsecretary-general Ade Lukman said Oh was doing a good job,
\npointing to the last two Olympics as examples.<\/p>\n
"Why are they saying these things about Oh Il Nam? He's been
\ntraining Indonesian athletes for quite a long time and I think
\nhe's been doing his job pretty well," Ade said.<\/p>\n
Ade said Oh had helped Indonesian tae kwon dos make it to the
\nOlympics in Sydney and Athens.<\/p>\n
"We may have lost (early) in Athens, but that they made it to
\nthe Olympics is a measurement of Oh's performance. It's not a
\nstandardized (measurement). Other people may differ in their
\njudgment," he said.<\/p>\n
Oh faces a tough task ahead when the country's tae kwon dos,
\nnow training under the Indonesia Awakens program, take part in
\nthe 2006 Asian Games in Qatar.<\/p>",
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