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)