Asiad team may fly to Games in Hercules
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's contingent for the 13th Asian Games may fly to Bangkok in December on one of the country's Air Force Hercules as part of the National Sports Council's program to trim its budget.
The council's Games task force chief, Muhammad Hindarto, told reporters yesterday a Hercules might be used if national flag carrier Garuda did not give the contingent a discount.
"We know that the athletes might feel tired after flying in a Hercules but that's just one of the ways to save our budget," Hindarto said. "We also used a Hercules when we competed at the 1981 SEA Games in Manila."
"We'll ask the immigration office to exempt athletes and officials from paying the departure tax.
"The council will also ask sponsor PT Sunrise to provide kit for our athletes to compete in," Hindarto added. "They will wear the same uniform for the opening and closing ceremonies as they used at the 19th SEA Games."
The Bangkok Asian Games Organizing Committee charges US$60 per athlete per day for board and lodging at the Games from Dec. 6 to Dec. 20.
Hindarto has shortlisted 11 sports that have a good chance of winning golds or silvers during the event, which offers 377 golds. They are badminton, beach volleyball, boxing, cycling (Olympic sprints and mountain bike events), karate, shooting, tae kwon do, tennis (if Yayuk Basuki plays), weightlifting, windsurfing and wushu.
Hindarto said that canoeing, fencing, rowing, sepak takraw, swimming, wrestling, equestrian, gymnastics, indoor volleyball, judo, soccer and track and field were sports which could win bronzes or reach the top four at the Asiad.
The first national training scheme, during which athletes will be required to reach the top four in Asia, will last until August.
"The athletes must reach the top four in August before joining the centralized training program, which will be held from September to November. They must also have one final test in international events to enable us to evaluate their performance. Hopefully, they can reach the top three in Asia in the three months," Hindarto said.
"If they can't make it, we will have to drop them. We aim to do better in the 13th Asiad than in 1994 in Hiroshima, Japan," he added.
Hindarto said that the All Indonesian Soccer Federation had to reevaluate its target to reach the Asiad semifinals.
"We believed the federation's target before it canceled its trip to Europe and Asia. But since the federation is only using the second ASEAN Tiger Cup as its tryout, it must reconsider its programs," he said.
"If the federation cannot afford to pay a foreign coach, it must hire the coach from whichever team wins the next Indonesian league," he added.
Coach Henk Wullems of the Netherlands took the national team to the SEA Games final, where it lost to archrival Thailand in a penalty shoot-out.
"The federation must learn from other associations and coaches. For example, Imron Rosadi whose lifters became world champions and broke world records or Yon Daryono, whose marathon runners broke SEA Games records," Hindarto said. (yan)