Asiad door still open for Oka and Malik

JAKARTA (JP): The National Sports Council's 13th Asian Games national training director, Mohamad Hindarto, said yesterday that windsurfers Oka Sulaksana and Malik Faizal still had a chance of competing at the Asiad based on their results at the Asian Windsurfing Championships in China on Sunday.

Defending champion Oka only won a bronze in the mistral one design. Mo Zhenhai of China won the gold followed by teammate Sun Maochin at the championships in Qingdao City.

Compatriot Abdul Malik Faizal won the silver in the mistral race board, trailing Chinese Chen Zhanyun. His brother Fadly Faizal failed to reach the top three.

"They still have time to improve their skills before competing at the Asiad. If they have a foreign coach, I believe they can do better," Hindarto said.

The council, which has said it will only send potential medal winners to the Asiad, has promised to hire a foreign coach, either from Israel or New Zealand, for the windsurfers. The foreign coach has asked for a salary of US$1,000 per week.

It has promised to financially assist the Indonesian Windsurfing and Yachting Association to hire a foreign coach by providing Rp 100 million (US$7,700) which was originally earmarked to hire a foreign tennis coach.

"They still have chances to win medals. We'll stick to our commitment to finance their foreign coach. We'll discuss this with the council's budget deputy," Hindarto said.

"But I think the Chinese athletes were not competing fairly because they entered about 50 athletes in each competition. Ideally, a class should include two athletes from each country," he said.

Coach Iskandar Sitompul, who accompanied the athletes to China, said in his release that China fielded 50 athletes and dominated the championships by sweeping five golds.

He also said that China has been preparing its athletes seriously as part of its preparation for the Asian Games in Bangkok in December. (yan)