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)