Archer Hamdiah beaten in world meet

Archer Hamdiah beaten in world meet

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's only woman archer who qualified for
the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Hamdiah, lost to top-ranked Lee
Kyung-eun of South Korea 99-103 in the quarterfinals of the 40th
World Archery Tournament in Riom, France on Wednesday.

However, the result will not affect Hamdiah's chances for a
ticket to Sydney.

"Hamdiah is finally defeated. The struggle of Indonesia's team
has finished here," said team manager Udi Harsono.

National archers still have an opportunity to win tickets for
the 2000 Olympics at the Continent Qualification Tournament in
Beijing, China, from Sept. 1 to Sept. 5. The international
archery federation has provided three tickets for the Olympics
for archers from the Asia-Pacific zone.

The archery team is now facing difficulties in returning to
Jakarta. According to the Indonesian Archery Association
(Perpani) official in charge of raising funds, Joseph Renyut, the
association still needs some Rp 67.490 million (US$8,050) to
cover expenses and to bring the archery team back home by July 31
at the latest.

"We have asked State Secretary Muladi for more funds, and the
state secretariat officials have phoned us for more details," he
said.

He said the 13-strong contingent could not pay their stay of
11 days at the Royal Hotel. The hotel fee is $50 per person per
night.

He said Perpani could only raise Rp 64 million from a painting
exhibition and contribution from Perpani's chairman, Hayono
Isman. The association also received some Rp 152.8 million from
sponsors to support the archers' participation in the world
tournament.

"We have bought the tickets but we can't not pay for the
athletes' board and lodging and other facilities such as the
uniforms," Joseph said, adding that the uniforms cost Rp 12.7
million.(ivy)