Archer Hamdiah qualifies for Olympics

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's woman archer Hamdiah qualified for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney after making it to the quarterfinals of the 40th World Archery Tournament in Riom, France.

Hamdiah, seeded 56th in the tournament, defeated Lina Pavchuky of the Ukraine 159-154 in the third round of the tournament, Ole Sadovnycha of the Ukraine 157-146 in the second round and Olga Moroz of Belarus 145-138 in the opening round.

Team manager Udi Harsono said in a fax on Monday that Hamdiah would face top ranked Lee Kyung-eun of South Korea in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

"On paper, Hamdiah has no chance to defeat the top archer. But she has qualified for the 2000 Olympic Games in the women's individual event because she managed to make the quarterfinals," Udi said.

However, Indonesia's women's team -- Hamdiah, Nurfitriyana Lantang Saiman and Lusia Elizabeth -- failed to reach the second round of the tournament after finishing in 21st place in the qualifying round. Only the top 16 teams go on to the next round.

Indonesia medaled at the 1988 Seoul Olympics in the women's team event in archery.

National female archers still have the opportunity to qualify for the 2000 Olympics at the Asian Archery Championships in Beijing in September.

Indonesia's men's team -- Hendra Setijawan, Wahyu Hidayat and H. Yulianto -- finished in 30th place in the tournament's qualifying round and failed to reach the next round. This poor showing makes the championships in Beijing that much more vital for the male archers. (ivy)