Bali no hliday for boxer Pino in SEA Games preparation

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian boxing's best hope, Pino Bahari, is training hard for the SEA Games to be held here from Oct. 11 to Oct. 19.

Daniel Bahari, Pino's father and trainer, said Tuesday in Denpasar that Pino was training six hours a day and was expected to peak at the Jakarta Games.

"The hard training does not affect Pino's lower-back injury. Conversely, the training eventually reduces Pino's pain," Daniel said.

Pino, a member of the Sasana Cakti boxing gym in Bali, won a gold medal at the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing.

Daniel said Pino's participation in the SEA Games would be his last appearance as an amateur. "Pino is now concentrating on becoming a professional boxer. Pino is no longer using headgear in training and we have applied a specific strategy for his training."

For the lead-up to the SEA Games, Pino said he preferred to train in his hometown rather than in Jakarta, and that he had received permission to train at home from Paul Toding, the chairman of the Indonesian Boxing Association (Pertina).

"I sent a letter to Pertina requesting my transfer from an amateur to a professional but it was refused. I later decided to become a professional boxer and even signed a contract of Rp 100 million with promoter Torino Tidar for five fights," Pino said.

Meanwhile, 18 sepaktakraw athletes from Pekanbaru, Riau, have resumed training after a three-day break.

Rachman Daud, an official from the Riau branch of the Indonesian Sepaktakraw Association, said Tuesday in Pekanbaru that the athletes were training for the Jakarta Games.

"We have given the athletes only three days holiday, two days before and one day after Lebaran. They are now on a training camp at the Tri Buana sports hall, Pekanbaru, and are training intensively," Rachman said.

Several athletes told Antara news agency they were not burdened by the short break because they realized their commitments as athletes who should follow the rules.

Eight athletes from Riau and 10 from North Sumatra, Jambi, Aceh and Bengkulu are taking part in the camp at Pekanbaru.

Rachman said that only 15 of the 18 athletes would be selected to join athletes from Ujungpandang to train in Jakarta. (lnt)