25 Indonesian cyclists to compete in Iran, Japan
25 Indonesian cyclists to compete in Iran, Japan
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Cycling Association will send 15
track cyclists and 10 mountain bikers to two international
championships in Japan and Iran next week in preparation for
October's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
The new training director, Soebronto Laras, said yesterday
that two national records were set at Tuesday's test at the
Rawamangun velodrome, East Jakarta.
Suwandra clocked four minutes and 57 seconds in the 4000 meter
Individual Pursuit, 4.523 seconds faster than teammate Teguh Eko
Pambudi at the last SEA Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Nurhayati beat her own record from four minute 12 seconds to
four minutes 02 seconds.
Track official Wahyudi said during a meeting with the National
Sports Council officials yesterday that all athletes had achieved
90 percent of their best performances.
"We hope in four months, the male cyclists can improve their
records. For Nurhayati, we are aiming to finish in less than four
minutes," he said.
At the last Games Indonesia won five gold, four silver and
three bronze medals in cycling events.
The track cyclists will compete at the Asian Championships in
Teheran, Iran, from June 14 to June 21.
"Unfortunately we can only send male cyclists because Iran
doesn't stage a championship for female cyclists. A special
competition for women cyclists will be staged in South Korea in
September," Wahyudi said.
Soebronto said that the association might not send Nurhayati
and her sister Nuraini to the women's championships because it
might be too close to the SEA Games.
"It's too risky to send them to the championships. Now, they
only have male cyclists as their training partners," he said.
"However, the association expects Nurhayati to win five golds out
of the 16 on offer."
Nurochman, Yudi Febrianto, Suwandra, Henry Setiawan, Mochammad
Nur, Hengky Setiawan, Dedy Effendi, Deddy Rusdian, Andry
Sudrajat, Agus Yulianto, Egi Eirin Ismail, Teguh Eko Pambudi,
Krisyanto, Deddi Waskito and Herry Janto Setiawan will leave for
Teheran on Sunday.
Mountain bike official Bambang Rujito said training has been
moved from Malang in East Java, to Subang in West Java, as a
preparation for the Japan Open mountain bike championship on June
14 and June 15.
Sugianto, Amir Mahmud, Zainul Siswanto, Ferry, Ferinanto,
Sugianto Setiawan in the men's side and Risa Suseanty, Sri
Suharmi, Ayuningrum, Rini Suyatmi will be in the women's side for
the championships.
"We hope we can make a clean sweep of the mountain bike
downhill and cross country events. Our target in the Japan Open
is to finish second after host Japan. Compared to other Southeast
Asian countries, our cyclists are better," Bambang said.
Surfing
Seven national surfers will have overseas stints in Germany
and England and are scheduled to leave Jakarta on June 10.
Oka Sulaksana, Miki Sampelan, Agus Faizal, Ray Gunadi,
Suhendi, Yusuf Faisal, and the only female surfer, Yuni
Trisnawati, will compete at the North Sea Cup in Pevensey Bay,
England, from June 11 to June 13 and the Kieler Woche
championship in Kiel, Germany, from June 24 to June 28.
The Indonesia Yachting Association's secretary-general,
Raymond Kotumbunan, said Tuesday that athletes were expected to
increase their confidence and learn from the championships.
"From this event we expect to see Thailand's surfers progress
at the championships," he said.
Thailand most likely will be Indonesia's major opponent at the
SEA Games.
Raymond expressed his optimism that national surfers would do
better in these Games because they have been training for seven
months.
At the last Games, Indonesia won one gold (Oka Sulaksana) and
two silvers (Miki Sampelan and Agus Faisal) in surfing. (yan)