119 RI athletes to compete in Asiad

JAKARTA (JP): The National Sports Council announced on Tuesday that it would send 119 athletes, 35 coaches and 39 officials, not including the swimming and equestrian squads, to the 13th Asian Games in Bangkok next month.

The council's athletes development deputy, Muchamad Hindarto, told reporters that the swimming and equestrian organizations did not show up at Tuesday's evaluation meeting.

"We'll call them tomorrow to hear their explanation for their actions and their plans," he said after the meeting.

The national swimmers, who have been training for the Asiad, have not met the required times, set by the council, at last week's national interclub swimming championships.

The riders withdrew from the Asiad squad due to their bad results in the ASEAN league series of the Volvo World Cup in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

This was in spite of council chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar giving them his blessing to compete. The team did not won any medals in the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima.

Hindarto, the Indonesian contingent's chef de mission, said the 119 athletes -- 69 men and 50 women -- represented 18 sports; archery, badminton, beach volleyball, boxing, canoeing, fencing, gymnastics, indoor volleyball, judo, karate, rowing, sepak takraw, shooting, tae kwon do, tennis, track and field, weightlifting and windsurfing.

Muhammad Sarengat, Hindarto's deputy, will submit the entry form in person to the Bangkok Asian Games Organizing Committee (BAGOC) on Nov. 5.

Indonesia is aiming to win six golds, 11 silvers and 13 bronzes from the 377 golds on offer in 36 sports. In 1996 the team's medal haul was three golds, 12 silvers and 11 bronzes.

Two of the six golds are expected from the men's badminton squad, in the men's doubles and men's team events.

The Badminton Association of Indonesia's athletes development deputy, Hadi Nasri, said the country would send eight male and eight female players. The sport offers seven golds.

The team consists of Hendrawan, Marlev Mainaky and Taufik Hidayat in the men's singles, Ricky Subagja/Rexy Mainaky, Candra Wijaya/Tony Gunawan in the men's doubles, Mia Audina, Meiluawati and Cindana in the women's singles, Elysa Nathanael/Deyana Lomban and Carmelita/Indarti Issoliana in the women's doubles and Tri Kusharjanto/Minarti Timur and Marlev Mainaky/Meiluawati in the mixed doubles.

"We'll focus on the men's teams from China, South Korea and Malaysia. We have evaluated their form in the Danish Open, the Brunei Open and the Asian Badminton Championships," Hadi said.

"In the women's singles, Mia still has a chance, moreover she just won the Indonesia Open. In the women's doubles, we hope our new partnership of Elysa/Deyana will reach the final," he added.

Another gold is expected from karate. Coach Willem Mantiri said that Indonesia had a chance to win in the kumite events.

"In kata, it's almost impossible because Japan will definitely dominate," he said.

Indonesia will field Omita Olga Ompi in the women's kata and Abdullah Kadir in the men's kata. In the kumite events, Indonesia will field women's karatekas Sandra Ariani (-53kgs division) and Nilawati Daud (-60kgs) and men's athletes of Isfan Tanjung (- 55kgs), Arief Taufan (-60kgs), Novilus Yoku (-70kgs) and Umar Syarief (+75kgs).

Boxing, in which the sports council is also hoping to contribute one gold, will feature seven boxers. They are Hermansen Ballo (featherweight), Damianus Jordan (flyweight), Bara Gomies (welterweight) and Albert Papilaya (middleweight), who have been groomed coached in Cuba since late September.

While Martin Sihombing (bantamweight), Wilpare Jamhur (lightweight) and Willem Papilaya (welterweight) are being trained in Jakarta. (yan)