Another errant athlete may get boot from Asiad team

Another errant athlete may get boot from Asiad team

JAKARTA (JP): A wushu athlete may be thrown off the national
squad for the 13th Asian Games in December because of
undisciplined behavior, her coach said on Friday.

Supandi Kusuma said Juwita displayed poor concentration during
training in Medan, North Sumatra, in the past month, shortly
after her identical twin, Jelita, quit the team for the Chinese
martial art.

"I think her sister's resignation influenced her in a way. You
know that twins are much closer than ordinary sisters," he told
reporters.

Juwita, a medal hopeful in the nanchuan event, could join
women's weightlifter Supeni and boxer La Paene Masara, also
dropped for disciplinary violations.

But Supandi said Juwita could keep her place on the Asiad team
if she improved her form in the next two weeks.

The association's chairman, MB Hutagalung, said he had heard
Juwita had a problem with eating on time.

"It's difficult for her to eat alone. So her coach asked all
athletes, including Juwita, to eat together in the wushu
dormitory," he said.

Supandi also said that Jainab, Indonesia's best hope to win
the silver in the tai chi event, was ready for the Asiad
following a two-week overseas stint in Tien Cin, China.

Jainab said her toughest rivals would be world champion Fan
Xue Ping and Kau Cia Min of China and Ria Inque of Japan.

"My coach in China, Men Hui Feng, said I had made great
progress during training," said Jainab, runner-up to Fan in the
1995 World Championship in Baltimore, Maryland. Jaenab gained
revenge in the Chinese Open last year, beating Fan before her
home crowd for the gold.

Jainab said her victory over Fan gave her a morale booster in
her bid of winning at least a silver in the Asiad in Bangkok.

"I'm not saying say I can win the gold, but I think I've known
a lot about Fan and I hope I can beat her once again," the
Southeast Asian Games gold medalist said. (yan)