Asian Games squad meets Soeharto today

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto will receive the Indonesian Asian Games team at the State Palace today, before they depart for the Hiroshima sports meet.

Most members of the contingent are scheduled to depart Sunday evening.

The squad will, no doubt, be expecting a "Knute Rockne" speech from the President before it embarks on its bid to finish sixth at the Oct. 2-16 Games. The team will be accompanied by Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Hayono Isman and chairman of the national sports governing body (KONI) Surono.

Indonesia managed to finish seventh four years ago in Beijing with three golds, six silvers and 21 bronzes. Now, the athletes are eying at least eight gold medals from badminton, tennis, boxing, weightlifting, archery, fencing and rowing competitions in Hiroshima.

The contingent, made up of 139 sportsmen and women, will compete in 23 out of 34 events. This year's Asiad will see 42 participating countries, including five newcomers from the former Soviet Union republics, battling for 337 golds up for grabs.

The KONI executive chairman said yesterday that members of the karate, judo, equestrian, table tennis and swimming teams will skip the meeting with Soeharto since they are still on overseas training stints in the USA, Japan and China.

"They may fly to Hiroshima directly after completing their overseas training," Soeweno said.

Soeweno said KONI is making the final preparations for the Games. "We have distributed lists of banned drugs to all coaches and doctors who will accompany our athletes to the Games," Soeweno, who will lead the national squad to Hiroshima, said.

Soeweno also said that KONI had adopted Antonius Gregorius Trutman of Cuba, in place of national boxing coach Fery Moniaga, to join the Asiad team. Trutman was hired by the national amateur boxing body (Pertina) to train a team of seven on his home soil for two months.

Ferry joins his two sidelined boxers, light middleweight Hendrik Simangunsong and middleweight Albert Papilaya, who were dropped from the team due to their disappointing performances in overseas training.(amd)