5,000 athletes expected to join 19th SEA Games

JAKARTA (JP): Almost 5,000 athletes will compete in the 19th SEA Games here, more than doubling the 1995 Games' field.

Organizing committee official M. Hindarto said yesterday that nine of the 10 participating countries had confirmed their teams for the biennial event.

With only Brunei Darussalam yet to confirm, 4,810 athletes are expected to compete. The last Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand, drew 2,166 athletes.

Indonesia will have the biggest team with 894 athletes, 25 more than the overall title holder Thailand, covering the Games' 34 sports.

Thailand will also enter every sport with its 360 female and 509 male athletes.

Indonesia won 77 gold medals, 67 silvers and 77 bronzes from 27 events at the last Games, which Thailand dominated by bagging 157 golds, 98 silvers and 91 bronzes. Thailand aims to finish fourth in the 1998 Asian Games.

Indonesia expects to win the overall title at this year's Games, which offer 440 golds, 440 silvers and 558 bronzes.

The Games, being staged here for the third time, will be opened by President Soeharto on Oct. 11 and end on Oct. 19.

The Games first came to Jakarta in 1977 when Indonesia joined them for the first time. Jakarta hosted the Games again in 1985.

The third biggest contingent at this year's games will be the Philippines with 476 male and 306 female athletes. It will field athletes in all sports, except water skiing and field hockey.

Myanmar, which will send 258 male and 189 female athletes, will compete in 29 of the 34 sports.

Singapore will send 403 male and 271 female athletes to take part in all events, except wrestling and weightlifting.

Malaysia, which will host the Games in 1989, will cover all 34 sports with its 417 male and 254 female athletes.

Vietnam will send 198 male and 60 female athletes to take part in 24 sports. Laos will compete in 17 sports with its 125 athletes. Cambodia will send 82 male and 8 female athletes for 15 of the sports.

Dismissal

Three national taekwondo squad members are facing expulsion from their college because training for the Games is interfering with their studies.

S. Alfons, Andi Cahyadi and Yuana Wangsa Putri are threatened with expulsion from STIE Perbanas, a college for economics and banking, for not meeting its 60 percent attendance requirement.

Alfons, a 1994 SEA Games gold medalist, said it was the first time he had encountered such a problem.

Games training executive director Djoko Pramono said that athletes recommended for the training program should not skip classes.

"Coaches and officials of sports organizations have to deal with athletes' school schedules. They must still attend classes," he said.

Djoko promised to resolve the attendance problem by speaking to the college's dean and the coaches.

Djoko said some athletes, who had refused to join the training program, could still try out for final team selection.

"If they want to join the final team, they have to take part in the selection. If they pass, they have to attend centralized training. They can't refuse anymore," he said.

Some national athletes have refused to join the centralized training program because of business or personal problems. (yan)