10 lifters named for Asian championships
10 lifters named for Asian championships
JAKARTA (JP): Coach Harry Wibowo announced yesterday Indonesia's 10 best bets for the Asian men's weightlifting championships in Japan next month.
The championships, to be held in Yachio, 30 kilometers from Tokyo, from April 4 to April 9, serve as the final Olympic qualifying round for Asian lifters. They offer a total of five Olympic berths, two for the winner and one each for those who finish second to fourth.
The 10 lifters are Hari Setiawan and Wahyudi (for the 54kg category), Taufik and Zulkarnaen (59kg), Erwin Abdullah and Sodikin (64kg), Sutrisno (70kg), Lukman (76kg), Sunaryo (90kg) and Mahfud (108kg and above).
They are the best lifters Indonesia currently has. Hari, Taufik, Sodikin, Sutrisno and Lukman won gold medals at the 18th Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand, last year.
Erwin Abdullah is the current national record holder in the men's 64kg. His record total lift is 290kg, which he set last year during a national selection meet in Gajah Sena, Bogor. Erwin had been national record holder in the 59kg category, until Taufik bettered not only his, but also a two-and-a-half-year-old SEA Games record, at a national meet in Jakarta in January.
Sunaryo and Mahfud are also national record holders. But Sunaryo, prepared for the 90kg category in Yachio meet, set the record in the 108kg category at the January national meet.
The fact that the choice fell to this particular 10 lifters and the way the 10 were placed into such categories show efforts to ensure "the right man in the right place".
Harry said that winning Olympic berths at the Yachio meet might be easier because Asian weightlifting powerhouses which have already got their Olympic berths, such as China, are not entitled to additional berths.
Nine Asian countries secured Olympic slots during the world weight lifting championships held in Guangzhou last year. They are China, Japan, South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Uzbekistan, India and Iraq. (arf)