Asiad team may fly to Games in Hercules

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)